The New York Times acquires Wordle, the simple word game that has amassed “millions of daily players”, for “an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures”

Wordle, Josh Wardle's stimulating and wildly popular daily word game, is joining The New York Times's portfolio of original …

The New York Times Company 2022-02-01

Context & Ripple Effects

Wordle had already moved from Josh Wardle’s side project to a viral daily habit, reaching 300,000 players in two months in early coverage of its rapid rise. Wardle had emphasized the game’s deliberately simple design even as clones appeared, making its acquisition a move to bring an unusually concentrated audience into The New York Times’s games portfolio.

The later record shows why control of the game mattered: The Times requested the removal of the unofficial archive of past Wordle puzzles, while Wordle went on to lead the company’s reported games activity.

First-order effects

The New York Times gains ownership of Wordle and its daily-player relationship; Josh Wardle receives a low-seven-figure, undisclosed sale price and relinquishes control of the game.
Wordle’s distribution and stewardship move from an independent creator to The New York Times’s existing games operation.

Second-order effects

The Times can set the boundaries for derivative Wordle services, as its later request to remove an archive of prior puzzles demonstrated.
App-store clone makers face a more clearly owned original after clones had already begun disappearing amid Wordle’s viral popularity.

Third-order effects

Wordle’s later role as the leader in The Times’s reported 8B annual puzzle and game plays supports games as a durable, repeat-use media asset rather than a one-off viral feature.
If publishers continue acquiring simple daily habits, ownership of the game’s format, archive, and distribution will matter as much as the initial audience spike.

The trend: Publishers are turning lightweight, repeatable games into owned engagement products with control over both audience access and adjacent derivatives.

Discussion

@powerlanguish Josh Wardle on x
An update on Wordle https://twitter.com/...
@nytimes @nytimes on x
The hit game Wordle has been purchased by the New York Times Company for a price “in the low seven figures,” the company said. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@marcatracy Marc Tracy on x
BREAKING: Wordle has a new owner ...... and it's The New York ⬜⬜⬜⬜ ⬜ Price: “low seven figures” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@daveyalba Davey Alba on x
Hot take I wish NYT would be as generous to its employees on raises as it's been in offering various companies $$$$$ to acquire em https://twitter.com/...
@lpolgreen Lydia Polgreen on x
Honestly, people. The choice isn't between Wordle as it exists today and NYT Wordle. It is between no Wordle and NYT Wordle, or even worse, a much crummier acquirer.
@levie Aaron Levie on x
NYT Crossword and Wordle are now owned by the same company. This has antitrust written all over it.
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
If Wordle were VC funded, they'd be looking for 10x or better and now would be printing merch and talking about a subscription service and a movie where The Rock kills an evil anthropomorphic curse word. There'd be endless spinoffs and attempts to leverage the brand.
@silvermanjacob Jacob Silverman on x
The Wordle guy quickly made a MVP out of a simple fun easily understandable concept, found an organic audience, and sold it for a mint to one of the less evil media conglomerates. Tech industry, take note: that's how you exit!
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
GREAT. WOWZA. EXTRA. ROGUE. https://twitter.com/...
@mat__savage Mat Savage on x
That dude made a million dollars off of a game he made for his wife in his spare time and everyone's like “boo this man” like he owed *us* something.
@anildash @anildash on x
You can still just make the internet. You can still just make a website of whatever you want, for just the people you care about. It's a good way to spend your time on here.
@smalljones Paul Jones on x
Five Letters. Six Guesses. Seven Figures. https://www.wsj.com/...
@wfkars Daniel Summers on x
Good for them, I suppose, and I knew it was only a matter of time before it stopped being free. But since I don't subscribe to Games, I guess it was fun while it lasted. https://www.nytco.com/...
@ofirahy @ofirahy on x
why couldn't we have this one nice thing https://twitter.com/...
@cmclymer Charlotte Clymer on x
We just can't have nice things, can we? https://twitter.com/...
@krisholt Kris Holt on x
Gonna be fun when a Wordle solution is PIXEL and it turns out that day's game was sponsored by Google
@paultassi Paul Tassi on x
“Initially” remain free... Credit to Bungie and Sony for the less shady wording of the two acquisitions of the day https://twitter.com/...
@jasonschreier Jason Schreier on x
I guess they couldn't afford Bungie https://twitter.com/...
@levie Aaron Levie on x
Literally every company is buying a game studio today. https://twitter.com/...
@parkermolloy Parker Molloy on x
Nothing gold can stay https://twitter.com/...
@rustybrick Barry Schwartz on x
The @nytimes grabbed Wordle https://twitter.com/...
@ellievhall Ellie Hall on x
If you love Wordle, you should be happy as hell about this news. People deserve to be compensated for their work. https://twitter.com/...
@norabf Nora Barrows-Friedman on x
joy is ephemeral https://www.nytco.com/...
@andreawoo Andrea Woo on x
Wordle, a game that Brooklyn-based software engineer created for his partner, has been acquired by the NYT “for an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures.” https://www.nytco.com/...
@rajasen Raja Sen on x
“Wordle will “initially remain free to new and existing players” once it moves over to the New York Times site.” “Initially.” That's that, folks. No corporate will let the world have a bit of fun. MONEY is a five letter word. https://www.theverge.com/...
@laurenpelley Lauren Pelley on x
IS NOTHING SACRED https://www.nytco.com/...
@neilanalien Neil Bhaerman on x
I'm sad that NYT is buying Wordle, but I'm happy that Mr. Wardle is getting paid. Unfortunately, that never happened to Mr. Crassward, who died penniless on the streets in the early 20th century.
@lpolgreen Lydia Polgreen on x
Creator of Wordle: I can't keep running this thing; I love the NYT puzzle peeps, they inspired me to make this thing you love, so I sold it to them! Twitter: How dare you give this thing we love a sustaining home!
@__apf__ Adriana Porter Felt on x
someone making bank on something fun they made for joy is a delightful ending, more of this in the world https://twitter.com/...
@maggiekb1 Maggie Koerth on x
This feels like investing heavily in sea shanties in January 2021. https://twitter.com/...
@jyarow Jay Yarow on x
Smart to exit before you run out of 5 letter words.
@priyavprabhakar @priyavprabhakar on x
no one is immune to corporate takeover. rip https://www.nytco.com/...
@youseegundam @youseegundam on x
Please make it a paid service so I can stop seeing people failing at wordle every 3 tweets https://twitter.com/...
@robertjimison Robert Jimison on x
The games creator says he was inspired by other games from The New York Times when he created Wordle “New York Times Games play a big part in its origins,” Mr. Wardle said in the company's statement, “and so this step feels very natural to me.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@mcmansionhell @mcmansionhell on x
I have never seen twitter as immediately mad as it is rn about the NYT wordle buyout. the NYT took one nice and simple thing that a lot of people really liked, a dumb bit of fun in our exhaustingly dark times, and implied that they'll stick it behind a paywall. exhausting.
@bdsams Brad Sams on x
Microsoft adds “NYTs” to list of companies competing against Game Pass https://twitter.com/...
@raynefq Rayne Fisher-Quann on x
if nyt takes wordle away from us remember that all you need to access it for free is the power of imagination and one friend who also likes wordle. become ungovernable https://twitter.com/...
@rapplerdotcom @rapplerdotcom on x
Josh Wardle, creator of the viral five-letter puzzle Wordle, sells the game to the New York Times. “The game has gotten bigger than I ever imagined,” says Wardle in a statement. According to the NYT, Wardle initially created the puzzle for his partner who loves word games. https:…
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
paywalldle
@jamespmcleod @jamespmcleod on x
Massively disappointing. This should've been announced tomorrow by making the word “TIMES” https://twitter.com/...
@nrarmour Nancy Armour on x
Just don't ruin it https://twitter.com/...
@phillyd Philip DeFranco on x
This is giving me “Some Good News” getting purchased vibes for some reason, especially because of the line that reads, “The company said the game would initially remain free to new and existing players.” INITIALLY? BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO https://twitter.com/...
@sallykohn Sally Kohn on x
Guessing tomorrow's Wordle will be “MONEY” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@mizliz_ Liz Richardson on x
One thing I really loved about Wordle was that we could all come together and enjoy something nice (and sometimes frustrating, in a good way) in the wide, horrible world of the internet. On a simple page. Just squares. How long before it's locked down w/ a $9.99 subscription? htt…
@grahamstarr Graham Starr on x
congratulations to mr. wordle on his million-dollar sale https://www.nytco.com/...
@stshank Stephen Shankland on x
1. I'm not big on Worlde postings but NYT just bought it so wow. 2. I hope they don't stuff the results tweet with URLs & trackers & other awfulness. It's great not worrying about that when sharing results (even if you're sick of people sharing results). https://www.nytco.com/...
@dylanmatt Dylan Matthews on x
More consolidation in the gaming company space https://twitter.com/...
@katierogers Katie Rogers on x
From five-letter words to low-seven figures. Best Wordle score I've seen yet. https://twitter.com/...
@danlamothe Dan Lamothe on x
I am uninterested in your Wordle. I am on the record about this. I *am* interested in actual Wordle news, though: https://www.nytco.com/...
@christinemhall Christine Hall on x
My spirit is crushed a bit with this news https://twitter.com/...
@caissie @caissie on x
I'm happy for Mr. Wordle. He made a game for his partner because she loved word games, then he shared it with all of us for nothing. Now he gets a million unexpected dollars. Because he loved someone!
@mattsheffield Matthew Sheffield on x
The New York Times bought Wordle. Here's an exclusive inside look at the gameplay of the first answer they've chosen. https://twitter.com/...
@mohanadelshieky @mohanadelshieky on x
A 5 letter word you will never see on wordle now is “Union” https://twitter.com/...
@vogon @vogon on x
one thing about the wordle discourse that has been killing me all day is: wordle is entirely client-side, none of it runs on the web server, and the entire game is 63 kilobytes the network traffic from a million plays of the game costs $1.25
@damiencave Damien Cave on x
Nice move @nytimes. Stays free in case you're wondering. Play on! https://twitter.com/...
@celeste_pewter Celeste P. on x
In non-political/games news (especially since I see all of your Wordle tweets): @NYT has apparently bought Wordle. https://www.nytco.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Exactly. If wordle would have been built on Facebook's platform rather than the open web, it's likely Facebook would have used Onavo to sniff its popularity, copy it, and then cut off its APIs to kill it. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@asteadwesley @asteadwesley on x
For Wordle, A Big Bet from a New Owner
@roywoodjr @roywoodjr on x
New York Times bout have us guessing shit like... Octal, colic, limpa, lepta, teloi, tempi, clime,tical, clips, pieta https://twitter.com/...
@ofirahy @ofirahy on x
my five letter response is LOLNO https://twitter.com/...
@dongwon @dongwon on x
I'm glad the wordle guy got paid for making something really nice. But I'm sad the thing that I like is, once again, being ingested by a massive media company.
@elanazak Elana Zak on x
“The company said the game would initially remain free to new and existing players.” aka prepare to pay for a NYT Games subscription. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@acedtect Tom Merritt on x
I have added Wordle to home screen in the hopes that it will work offline forever.
@mattmcgee Matt McGee on x
In case anyone needs more proof of the value of building an audience. Eyeballs/Attention/Love = $$$ https://twitter.com/...
@pappiness Nick Jack Pappas on x
When Wordle is behind a paywall, I will never play AG⬜⬜N. https://twitter.com/...

Chronicles