One of the most popular and viral online games, Wordle is now part of The New York Times. If you are an active user of Twitter, you must have seen people posting their scores every day with green a series of grey, yellow, and green boxes. Last night, The New York Times announced that it has bought the Wordle for an undisclosed amount.
As per the report from The New York Times, the game was launched in October and had about 90 users as of November 1, 2021. However, the number grew to 300,000 by mid-January. And as of today, millions of people play the game online and share their progress on social media platforms such as Twitter, WhatsApp, etc.
The New York Times says it has acquired Wordle for a low seven figures, however, the exact sum was not disclosed. The game would remain free and all the existing and new players. The New York Times already has a collection of online games like crosswords and spelling bee, by adding Wordle to its bag, the online publication aims to increase its digital subscription to 10 million by 2025.
An update on Wordle pic.twitter.com/TmHd0AIRLX
— Josh Wardle (@powerlanguish) January 31, 2022
Founder of the game, Josh took Twitter to announce that acquisition, where he announced that the game will now be part of NYT. As the game moves to the NYT website, it will be free to play and he is working with the publication to make sure wins and streaks of the existing users will be preserved. For those who are unaware of the gameplay, the goal of the game is to guess a random five-letter word. If your word has the right letter at the right spot, that letter will appear green.
When you have too much money and really need the answer on the last row https://t.co/cCIAR13X8n
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) January 31, 2022
How long do you think the New York Times will keep Wordle free to non subscribers?
I’ll give you 6 guesses.— Julie Cohen (@FilmmakerJulie) February 1, 2022
goodbye wordle – i bid you adieu https://t.co/jsXwaRW39z
— Eddy Elfenbein (@EddyElfenbein) January 31, 2022
The reason I find this depressing is because Wordle felt a bit like an earlier version of the internet – one where stuff was free, wasn't stealing your data/tracking you, wasn't bombarding you with calls to download apps. And that can't really exist on the web anymore, I guess! https://t.co/weG9xOqqaW
— Hannah Williams (@hkatewilliams) January 31, 2022
Dropping a million dollars to paywall a game people will forget within a month https://t.co/1QOGTMtatY
— Femcuck Fatale (@ZeeZeeMooMoo) February 1, 2022
RIP Wordle. I’m sure it’ll end up behind a paywall like the rest of The NY Times. Was fun while it lasted…. https://t.co/Wpag7WaK4c
— Thinknoodles #RIPKopi 🐶🍜 (@Thinknoodles) January 31, 2022
As soon as the news broke late at night yesterday, users on Twitter got furious on the platform by this move as NYT has a digital subscription, which allows users to explore the content on the website including the games. While, the game is said to be free for the initial few days, down the road, the game might go down as an exclusive to paid members on the platform.
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