730,000 people interrupted their Christmas to try to win $12,000 from the hottest new app of the year

HQ Trivia

HQ Trivia's main host Scott Rogowsky got in the holiday spirit.

• HQ Trivia set a new record on Christmas Day, as 730,000 people competed for an unusually large $12,000 jackpot.
• That's more than twice as many people as usually log onto the 4-month-old app, which had around 300,000 players per game through much of December.
• HQ Trivia lets players answer trivia questions to win real money prizes.
• For scale: It's also more people than live in Seattle.

The popular app HQ Trivia hit a new record on Christmas day as 730,000 people logged on simultaneously at 9 p.m. Eastern to compete for an unusually large jackpot of $12,000, the company behind the app tells Business Insider.

That's more trivia players than there are people living in Seattle, Washington - and all for an app that's less than four months old.

HQ Trivia came onto the scene in late August and quickly stole the attention of iPhone users around the country with its energetic and entertaining trivia games, broadcast live twice a day. Most games have jackpots of $1,000, which is split evenly between all of the winners in that round.

The game didn't break from that tradition on Christmas, only with higher prize pools. In fact, on Christmas eve, HQ held a surprise third game, following complaints from viewers that the game had glitched out and they were unable to play. Then, on Christmas day, it hit that new player record.

In December, most rounds had upwards of around 300,000 active players. This is up from the 60,000 average users Business Insider reported in mid-November. Participation is indicated on the top left side of the app screen when games are in session, though the company has not shared official metrics.

The app, which was created by Vine founders Rus Yusupov and Colin Kroll, is still only available on iPhone, despite the company's promise to put out an Android version of the game before Christmas. On Tuesday, HQ Trivia said it plans to have an Android version out by January 1.

Giphy