If you’re a trivia game lover, chances are, you are familiar with QuizUp. To refresh your memory, QuizUp is a trivia game app for iOS and Android that lets you play trivia with friends and strangers in real time… well, it was. QuizUp is no longer available in the App Store or Google Play, and we’ll get into the reason for that in a minute.
Though it’s hard to measure success without numbers and metrics, it is safe to say that QuizUp enjoyed popularity among people of many nationalities for years. QuizUp was in line with Trivia Crack, Trivia Crack 2, and other popular trivia game apps. Its distinctive feature was the abundance of categories. Not only could players choose their category, they also had a lot to choose from! Categories ranged from your favorite TV series, like Parks and Recreation, The Office, and How I Met Your Mother, to more obscure and unheard of topics. Of course, you also had your general knowledge, geography, history, art, and more traditional categories.
In the past few weeks, “QuizUp discontinued” became a popular Google search. Let’s take a closer look at what happened to the fan-favorite app and what we will do without it.
Is QuizUp Dead?
After a long run that started in 2013, QuizUp was removed from the App Store on January 20th, 2021. On the next day, the developers announced that the game is being discontinued. Glu Mobile Inc. published a message from the developers, saying that “…on March 22, 2021, we will be discontinuing QuizUp.”
The developers went through with their promise and the app was indeed discontinued. As of now, we are not expecting a great comeback from QuizUp, though things can always change. Perhaps the developers are working on something better. The question is, why was QuizUp discontinued in the first place? Keep reading for the most popular theory!
What Happened?
QuizUp was originally developed by the Plain Vanilla Games team based in Iceland in 2013, and later overtaken by Glu Mobile in 2016. The game followed the classic Trivial Pursuit gameplay, but unlike Trivial Pursuit, offered players to choose their own category from a wide variety of categories. With over 1,200 topics to choose from in total, QuizUp was one of a kind among trivia apps. The game was available in different languages, so people all over the world were able to play.
In May 2014, not even two years after its launch, the app had over 20 million active users already. The fall of QuizUp commenced in the year 2016. In 2015, Plain Vanilla Games signed deals for QuizUp-inspired television game shows with two different production companies. The app was on the rise, but the deals fell through. As a result of that, Plain Vanilla sold the app to Glu Mobile in 2016.
After its acquisition, the app went on living for five more years, until it was discontinued in the first quarter of 2021. Among all the fan theories, one is prevalent and likely true. It is widely believed that the developers were unable to monetize the platform. When the television game show deals fell through, Plain Vanilla lost all hope of ever making enough money.
Towards the end of its life, the revenue was very low and the costs were high. With the rise of newer trivia apps like Trivia Crack 2 and HQ Trivia, QuizUp was losing popularity. The developers stopped updating the app about a year before its discontinuation. For the last year of its life, the app was in poor shape and not optimized to the new smartphones, similar to the demise of Trivia Crack Kingdoms.
Can You Download an Old Version Anywhere?
If you have an Android smartphone, you’re in luck! You can download the old versions of QuizUp on this website. You can find all the versions up until the latest 2021 version there. It seems as though the purpose of making all these versions available for download was not simply trying to appease grieving fans after the loss of QuizUp. The website explains that the newest version might not be compatible with your operating system, in which case downloading one of the older versions is a solution. When the app was still in the App Store and Google Play, you could only upgrade to a newer version, but not downgrade to an older one. Perhaps the website was useful to some players even back when the game was available everywhere.
If you’d like to play a game of QuizUp now, you can try downloading it from that website.
What is Trivia Royale?
Thor Fridriksson, the developer behind QuizUp, is no stranger to trivia. After the app sold for $7.5 million to Glu Mobile, Thor continued to work on apps in the field of trivia. In 2020, he launched another trivia game app titled Trivia Royale. The new app has different play modes, with Trivia Royale being the main draw.
Trivia Royale is the Battle Royale of trivia. In this mode, 1,000 players go head to head in a battle to the death, but it’s trivia. Players are split into pairs, where they battle against their opponents. Each battle has five questions that increase in difficulty. Each player has 10 seconds to answer a question. Just like in QuizUp, you can get additional points for answering the questions quickly. The final question is worth double the points if answered correctly.
Once you lose, you’re out of the tournament. Your opponent then proceeds to battle someone else, until they lose too or get to the top. That can be you! Answer all the general knowledge questions correctly and win every battle on your way. If you win the Trivia Royale, you get a virtual crown that’s displayed on your profile picture. You also get access to all the leaderboards where you can check your and your opponents’ scores.
Much like in QuizUp, you can also play one-on-one trivia matches with random players in real time. If you choose this mode, you can select your own categories. Because of that, Trivia Royale can be regarded as a replacement for QuizUp. Of course, the game is still “young” and we will have to see if it can overpass QuizUp and other trivia game apps.
It’s impossible to compare the two apps from the user experience point of view, as QuizUp was not well looked after towards the end of its life. However, we can confidently say that Trivia Royale is better from the commercial point of view. Thor Fridriksson tried to avoid ads in QuizUp at all costs, and that’s what eventually brought him down. He’s learned his lesson and made some adjustments with Trivia Royale. The platform allows for monetization through subtle ads (players can choose to watch ads to double their points) and virtual currency sold on the platform used to update player avatars.
You don’t need to enjoy QuizUp to enjoy Trivia Royale, as the game is still quite different. The developer took feedback seriously and made every effort to turn Trivia Royale into a successful venture.
QuizUp Alternatives
Besides the obvious Trivia Royale from the same developer, QuizUp has many more successful alternatives for Android and Apple devices.
Trivia Crack and Trivia Crack 2
Trivia Crack available on Android and iOS. Trivia Crack 2 available on Android and iOS.
Trivia Crack is an iconic trivia game app that’s been around since 2013. The app is still thriving, so much so, that the developers invested into a newer idea—Trivia Crack 2. It is rare for developers to keep both apps when they are so similar, which can attest to the success of both ventures.
Both Trivia Crack and Trivia Crack 2 follow the traditional Trivial Pursuit gameplay. There are six categories, including Geography, Entertainment, and History. Players answer questions, move on to the next levels, and collect colorful tokens. Each game has three play modes. Both have the Classic mode, where you play against a stranger in real time to win all six characters or tokens.
You can challenge your friends and strangers to duels and matches. Play against real opponents in real time or enjoy solo games on your own. With the variety of play modes and challenges you’ll never get bored. There is a large inflow of questions every day, so you’ll never have to see the same question twice.
If you’re interested in either of these apps but are having trouble choosing which one to play, be sure to check out our article on which of the two apps we prefer!
Trivia 360
QuizUp was unique because it allowed you to pick the category you want to answer questions in. Ever since, there’s not been an app that gave players that option. Trivia 360 comes pretty close to QuizUp in other ways though!
There are two play modes: Play Solo and Head to Head. Play Solo is for solo players who want to answer 10 questions in one minute. That’s a lot of time, though if you answer quickly, you get additional points. In Head to Head, you get to play with a stranger or a friend in three rounds of questions. Each round has five questions and you get 10 seconds per question, just like in QuizUp.
This app’s unique feature is that you can participate in several Head to Head matches at the same time. Since the game is played in real time, you’ll often find yourself waiting for the other player to answer. In the meantime, you can play a few more games! Plus, check out our list of 16 trivia game apps to try for more!
The Comeback
The developer of QuizUp has gotten busy with a new game—Trivia Royale, so we’re not expecting QuizUp to come back. Though the game was great, the concept was initially flawed and difficult to execute in our capitalist society. Luckily, Thor Fridriksson found a way to capitalize on his invention without overwhelming ads and expensive premium memberships. If you enjoyed QuizUp, you should definitely give Trivia Royale a chance.
Heck, give Trivia Royale a chance even if QuizUp wasn’t your cup of tea! Though Battle Royale is not a new and unique concept, it hasn’t been made popular in trivia apps just yet, and it is very different from the original idea behind QuizUp.
UPDATE: Alas, Trivia Royale has also gone the way of QuizUp. Find out all the details here.
Are you going to miss QuizUp? Have you found a worthy alternative yet? Have you given Trivia Royale a try? Share your opinions with us in the comments!
Donna says
Trivia Royale has also been discontinued.
K. Man says
The older apps you linked to require the QuizUp servers to be running to be of any use. Since the servers were shut off, old app versions are useless.