The Next 'Trivia Crack' Game Will Look Very Different

Maximo Cavazzani, CEO of mobile games studio Etermax, is the creative force behind the highly popular Trivia Crack app, which challenges users to answer questions in categories from history to sports. Now, Cavazzani is betting that creating trivia questions will be just as addictive as answering them.

That’s the idea behind Trivia Crack X, an upcoming sequel that lets players create their own quizzes to share on social media. The new app, due out this spring, will be the third installment in the Trivia Crack series, following last year’s Trivia Crack Kingdoms.

Trivia Crack players have long been able to submit their own questions for consideration. But the Buenos Aires-based Etermax receives a high number of submissions, so the chance of actually getting a question added to the game is low. Trivia Crack X is designed to solve that.

With the new Trivia Crack title, users will first choose whether they want their quiz to take the form of a video, an image, or an animated GIF. Then, users will write a question and four answer choices. After that, quiz creators can publish their stumpers to the social network of their choice. The quizzes will automatically adapt to best fit users’ chosen platforms. “It’s going to find the best way to put that content on Facebook, Twitter, Vine, et cetera,” says Cavazzani.

Cavazzani is best known for the Trivia Crack franchise. However, his experience in mobile app development goes back to 2009, when he started Etermax at the age of 22. The company released a stock management app the following year, which it eventually sold to TD Ameritrade. Etermax then pivoted to gaming, gaining traction with titles such as Aworded and Word Crack, both of which reached 12 million downloads by 2012. (Time Inc., which owns TIME, is an Etermax partner.)

Cavazzani’s first Trivia Crack app saw blockbuster success after it launched in 2013. It held the top spot in Apple’s App Store for a record-breaking period in early 2015 and boasts 200 million users worldwide. But mobile game makers face a challenge in keeping users engaged. People often jump from one title to another after just a few months of playing, making it tough to grow a large user base as social media darlings like Facebook do. Trivia Crack is now the 149th most popular iPhone app, according to data from App Annie.

The quiz app market is crowded these days, partially because of the success of the original Trivia Crack. Competitors range from QuizUp to SongPop. It’s not uncommon to see mobile companies prosper from the success of a single app but struggle to grow beyond that one hit. Mobile game studio Zynga, which created the ultra-popular FarmVille, has faced considerable difficulties since going public in 2011. Etermax is a private company, which Cavazzani says allows it to plow its profits back into new games.

Cavazzani’s ultimate vision for Trivia Crack X extends beyond simple mobile gaming. He’s hoping the game sees adoption from teachers and employers who might make quizzes for their students or workers, for instance. That could broaden the app’s appeal to include those who might find utility in a quiz app beyond killing a few minutes on line at the grocery store.

“What we are expecting is the platform to be a way for all entities, companies and people, to get into the user’s minds by challenging them,” he says. “When you are challenged by a question, your brain is in another state and is more likely to absorb that information.”

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