How HQ became the latest live streaming sensation and how to create your own
The new live trivia app HQ has grown rapidly in the last few weeks and gathered a loyal following of fans that tune in to play the live trivia game and have a chance to win money. Twice daily at 3PM and 9PM EST the app broadcasts a live streamed trivia quiz show that is presented by Scott Rogowsky or Sharon Carpenter. Outside these broadcast hours the app shows a countdown for the next broadcast.
Each live broadcast consists of 12 random trivia questions, each question needs to be answered within 10 seconds. The format follows a ‘last man standing’ principle; one wrong answer and you’re out. Viewers that answer all 12 questions correctly share the default daily price pool of $500 dollar or a sponsored higher amount. It is easy to envision the app being used for promotional purposes with branded shows that give away free products.
The app is a clever combination of the power of television and the popular game show genre, the interactivity of the mobile phone and the immediacy of live streaming. The app supports live chat allowing viewers to chat with other viewers.
The Verge has a great writeup about the app and calls HQ a “viral trivia sensation” that “looks like the future of both mobile gaming and live TV”. It is a form of “appointment gaming” that takes us back to the TV schedule. You have to tune-in to watch the show and play-along. HQ takes a unique position in the live streaming market by controlling the content and the distribution channel allowing it to customize the experience.
Viral trivia sensation HQ looks like the future of both mobile gaming and live TV
It seems HQ takes the most successful lessons from TV broadcasting and combines it in a single experience. It schedules its broadcasts to draw a large number of viewers at the same time. The app uses a simple interface for answering trivia questions, making it easy for anyone to play-along. HQ very effectively gamifies the experience which makes players return to the app to beat their friends and have a chance to win some of the money. During the broadcast the presenter tells the viewers how many people were right and how many people are left. All data is available in real-time and is used to engage the viewer. Knowing that only 5 players are left makes you even more excited to get it right.
Ex Machina has many years of experience in making live or linear video content interactive. Our PlayToTV platform hosted tens of thousands of game shows, talent shows, and news casts and has supported billions of interactions. PlayToTV can efficiently scale up to one million concurrent users without failure, making it the most reliable and scalable platform for interactive formats. It has been trusted by major broadcasters and Emmy winning TV formats in the US, Europe, Middle East and APAC.
Ex Machina’s PlayLive platform allows you to create your own version of HQ on any platform.
Our live game show solution brings all this technology to live streaming on the web including Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and owned OTT apps.
Create your own HQ Trivia live stream
Ex Machina’s platform allows content creators, broadcaster and production companies to create their own version of HQ on any platform.
It supports native interactivity via #hashtags in the comments or chat, reactions on Facebook, video player click maps on Twitch and many more. This allows anyone to broadcast live video across platforms giving every viewer the opportunity to play along.
It distributes your stream to any platform including Facebook, YouTube, Periscope, Twitch or an owned OTT app all at the same time. PlayLive takes one source and streams to multiple destinations with ultra-low latency options available.
A cloud-based solution that integrates with existing workflows and offers professional production tools without the need for local hardware or software.
Our fully cloud-based solution offers professional production tools without the need for local hardware or software. We can develop solutions that integrate with existing workflows (Newtek, OBS, xSplit, vMix, Telestream) while reducing production costs.
The cloud based graphics engine shows custom graphics for any show or format and display questions, leaderboards, comments, data, feedback and results in real time. In addition we support lower thirds, name introductions, over the shoulder and any other type of video graphics you can imagine.
Discover is the most reliable and versatile live streaming platform for professional content creators. Contact us if you want to create your own HQ app or create a similar live stream experience on any platform.
We develop white label live trivia solutions that blends questions, quizzes, and the live production into a single easy-to-use interface. Find out more about our solutions on our website.
P.S. Ex Machina is growing and looking for passionate developers, designers and project managers. Check all open positions on our website.
