The New York Times bought Wordle: Will the word game remain free to play?

The New York Times – famous for The Crossword puzzle, among other things – has announced it acquired one of the world’s most popular word games and cultural phenomenons: Wordle.

Wordle is a browser-based word guessing game, with no app to download. You just visit a website and can start playing for free. The game basically gives you six chances to guess a five-letter word, and each day the page is updated with a new word. The word is the same for all players around the globe.

Josh Wardle, a Brooklyn-based software engineer, created the game for his partner so that they could kill time during the pandemic. He eventually released Wordle publicly last October, and it already has millions of daily players.

In its announcement, The New York Times noted it launched The Crossword in 1942 and has since introduced The Mini crossword, Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed, Tiles, and Vertex, all of which were played more than 500 million times in 2021. By buying Wordle, The New York Times claimed it’s looking to “entertain more solvers with puzzles every day – especially during these anxious times”.

The New York Times said it acquired Wordle for a “low-seven figures”. 

An update on Wordle pic.twitter.com/TmHd0AIRLX

— Josh Wardle (@powerlanguish) January 31, 2022

Wardle, in his own statement, mentioned he’s long admired The New York Times and the newspaper’s values are aligned with his own. “This step feels very natural to me”, he said. Wardle also explained the massively popular game has “been a little overwhelming” for him – given he’s the only person running the entire game.

If you’re wondering whether Wordle will suddenly cost money to play, The New York Times confirmed it will remain free to play for new and existing players, and no changes will be made to its gameplay. Wardle is also working to preserve players’ existing wins and streak data once the game moves to its new home.