Josh Wardle created Wordle in October last year… and now he has just sold the game for seven figures!
New York, USA (01 February 2022) – Wordle, the browser-based game that has taken the world by storm has just been bought by the New York Times Company for “seven figures”.
The game, created by Josh Wardle, a Reddit engineer, was launched in October 2021. Wordle got a mention in The New York Times in November but really got traction over December, and now, millions of social media users post their results daily while not giving away any clues.
In a Reddit post, Wardle said he wanted Wordle to feel like a croissant, a “delightful snack” that is enjoyed occasionally. This is explicitly why there’s only one puzzle per day. “Enjoyed too often,” he explained, “and they lose their charm.”
The purchase was announced by The Times on Monday.
“It reflects the growing importance of games, like crosswords and Spelling Bee, in the company’s quest to increase digital subscriptions to 10 million by 2025.
Wordle was acquired from its creator, Josh Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn, for a price “in the low seven figures,” The Times said.
The company said the game would initially remain free to new and existing players.
“The Times remains focused on becoming the essential subscription for every English-speaking person seeking to understand and engage with the world,” a company statement said. “New York Times Games are a key part of that strategy.”
But what is Wordle?
Well, the concept is simple… Wordle is a browser-based word game. It gives you six potential guesses to unmask one five-letter word. A green square says right letter in the right place. Yellow means a right letter in the wrong place, while grey tells you what letters to ignore.
The catch? You only get those six guesses and can only play once a day. You also don’t get any clues as to what the word begins with, so that first word is totally luck of the draw!
If you want to join the Wordle revolution, click here.
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