Live-stream trivia games make a splash in China

Hailed by Chinese as a harbinger of the golden age of live-stream, online quizzes aggravates millions of participants daily, who are resorting to every possible means in the hopes of getting a slice of the irresistibly sweet prize pool.

The live-stream trivia games, which are the Chinese version of US online quiz game HQ Trivia that caused an international frenzy in 2017, are ideal training grounds for those who want to play online games for real cash prizes. The rules are simple, with a personable host presenting a quiz of 12 questions covering a wide range of topics from history to math, participants who give all the correct answers can split the jackpot between 100,000 RMB ($15,500) and five million RMB ($776,800), which is way more than that provided by their foreign counterparts.

Such lucrative yet newfangled games have breathed new life into China’s live streaming industry, which have been suppressed by authorities for their sometimes vulgar and homogeneous content. Several live-streaming quiz apps are available on Apple and Android’s app market in China, with many of them topping the most popular app ranking list. Downloads of Ixigua, one of the most popular live-streaming quiz apps, has increased to 16 million from 1.7 million within five days.

The mind-racking online frenzy has not only attracted countless players, but has also garnered remarkable investment and popularity from celebrities and business tycoons in China. Wang Sicong, an online celebrity and the future owner of China’s entertainment empire Wanda Group, announced his daily routine of investing prize money in such games on Jan. 3, with many of his business rivals following suit.

“Since the instant popularity of quizzes emerged at the start of 2018, over 10 companies in online education, news, games, and other sectors have added live-quiz features to their apps, with more following suit,” Aron Zhang, a Beijing based senior data analyst, told People’s Daily Online.

“It’s still early to say whether the sudden surge of online quizzes is sustainable or not, but there’s no doubt that it provides new opportunities for China’s live stream industry,” he added.

Burst of cash and knowledge

Though the lucrative rewards are irresistible, answering all the questions correctly is impossible mission for most participants, who have been trying to find ways to get a leg up, including forming secret chat rooms to pool answers and hopefully stay in the game.

“Most live-stream trivia games provide only 10 seconds for the participants to think over, that’s barely enough time to process the list of answers, let alone to consult friends or search the internet. The games seem to be fair and can help me learn something new,” Cherry Chen, a 26-year-old PhD student at Nanjing University, told People’s Daily Online, who was awarded 57 RMB in total for being a three-time winner.

According to Chen, she and her friends take part in live-stream trivia on different platforms every day, treating the games more as a new way of learning.

Many participants, on the other hand, have raised doubts about the games’ professionalism, noting that many answers provided by the live stream quizzes are wrong and misleading.

In January, Beijing’s Internet watchdog ordered Huajiao, a major live-stream quiz platform in China, to inspect its content after it was found that Taiwan and Hong Kong were listed as countries in one of its quizzes. Other apps have also admitted errors, such as mistaking the obvious origin of the Chinese hamburger (roujiamo) for Jiangsu province instead of Shaanxi province.

“Errors do occur, but you can’t deny that the cash prizes have indeed encouraged people to acquire more knowledge, rejuvenating the live streaming industry,” said Chen.

Live streaming platforms have long been criticized as a “dark corner that conceals dross and money worship” in China. The country’s Ministry of Culture initiated a crackdown on the industry in 2017, punishing 30 online hosting platforms. A total of 31,347 presenters were punished and 9,721 had their broadcasting contracts terminated, while a total of 291 live-stream apps were removed from online app stores, according to Xinhua.

“Live streaming programs in China were once vulgar and boring with homogeneous hosts catering to bizarre requests. Instead of focusing on online trade and cash, online quizzes can ignite interest in knowledge, which I think is a good thing,” Chen added.

Flash in the pan?

Though online quizzes have brought great profit to both platforms and netizens, many experts doubt that the popularity will last.

The news of a university student in Guangzhou who won a jackpot of over 100 on Jan.12 has clearly inspired many netizens to keep trying, but such lucky wins are quite rare, especially when the jackpot is split by a large number of participants clawing for table scraps.

“It took me forever to be one of the winners in a 50,000 RMB online quiz, and I only get 12 RMB, which seems to be too paltry to attract any followers,” said Liu Xin, a 31-year-old employer in Beijing.

Meanwhile, many netizens have shown their discontent over the debased content of some questions, especially those regarding sponsors, noting that such questions are clearly designed to discriminately knock people who are not big fans of the brands off the board.

“I once failed at the last question, which asked me the history of a less-known brand. This is really ridiculous, ” said Liu.

Chen Liteng, an assistant analyst at an e-commerce research center in China, told Xinhua that online streaming apps had won many users with the quizzes, but the way of luring new users with big cash prizes and celebrity hosts is unsustainable.

“The mode is perhaps only a short-term thing,” he said.