The New York Times recently announced that Wordle designer Josh Wardle agreed to sell his game to the publication for a price in the "low seven figures." This means that Wordle might just be taking its place alongside a variety of other games offered by the New York Times including Letter Boxed, Tiles, Vertex, and Spelling Bee. The New York Times got started in games by printing crossword puzzles on the back pages of its newspapers from February 15, 1942 onwards.

The move was part of a bid to “increase digital subscriptions to 10 million by 2025.” The New York Times remains “focused on becoming the essential subscription for every English-speaking person seeking to understand and engage with the world.” The company claims that games are “a key part" of its business strategy.

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Wordle is going to "remain free to new and existing players” for the moment, but the New York Times might just be introducing monetization features in the future. The publication for example requires a subscription for its crossword puzzles. Sudoku on the other hand is free.

Wardle said on Twitter that “it has been incredible to watch a game bring so much joy to so many and I feel so grateful for the personal stories some of you have shared with me — from Wordle uniting distant family members to provoking friendly rivalries to supporting medical recoveries.” Wardle went on to say that “I am extremely pleased to announce that I’ve reached an agreement with The New York Times for them to take over running Wordle going forward.”

The acquisition makes a lot of sense given the circumstances. “If you’ve followed along with the story of Wordle, you’ll know that The New York Times games play a big part in its origins and so this step feels very natural to me,” Wardle said. “I’ve long admired The New York Times’s approach to their games and the respect with which they treat their players.”

Wordle header

When it comes to monetization features, The New York Times decided to keep the door open, but Wardle suggested that his game will be free forever going forward. "When the game moves to The New York Times site, it will be free to play for everyone and I am working with them to make sure your wins and streaks will be preserved," Wardle said.

Wordle began with a total of 90 players when it launched in October, 2021. This number grew to 300,000 by the middle of November. The game now has a player count over 1,000,000.

This comes in the wake of several big business acquisitions in the games industry. Sony revealed on January 31, 2022 that it would be purchasing Bungie for $3.6 billion. Microsoft also bought Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion a couple of weeks before this.

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