The New York Times acquires Wordle

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: The New York Times
1 Feb 2022 19:54

The New York Times has acquired Wordle, basically an overnight internet sensation, after it garnered millions of daily users.

Wordle garnered millions of users ahead of its NYT acquisition

Wordle, a sensation that has been trending all over social media and that has taken over the internet, has been acquired by The News York Times.

The game's basis is that players get one word a day that they have to guess with six chances at getting it. The game has a 5×6 format, meaning you have to guess a five-letter word with six attempts, and it helps you by highlighting the letter you picked grey if you got it wrong, yellow if you got it right but in the wrong square, and green if the letter is both in the word and the correct square.

The American newspaper announced the acquisition on Monday, and it is part of its efforts at garnering 10 million digital subscriptions by 2025, not to mention the significance of intellect and vocabulary-based games like crossword puzzles.

The New York Times acquired the game from its creator Josh Wardle, for a price "in the low seven figures," the newspaper said.

Initially, the NYT said the game would remain free to new and existing players.

The Times said the game has a player base in the millions now. However, it had a humble beginning, as it first appeared on a simplistic ad-free website that only garnered 90 users a month after it launched, but that number took a vast jump to 300,000 by the middle of January, and now it's in the millions.

"The Times remains focused on becoming the essential subscription for every English-speaking person seeking to understand and engage with the world," the NYT claimed. "New York Times Games are a key part of that strategy."

The news outlet has been on the internet for nearly three decades, but it put up a paywall nine years ago, and since then, its strategy has been focused on acquiring more subscribers and persuading users to become part of its vast subscribers base.

In November, The Times said it had nearly 8.4 million subscribers, and its next earnings report is set to be released on Wednesday.

The company's games, which include Spelling Bee, Letter-Boxed, Tiles, crossword, and Vertex, were played more than 500 million times last year, meaning they are doing their job of bringing in more customers for the newspaper.