A company has indeed looked into the Wordle phenomenon. The very addictive Motus 2.0 fell under the flag of the New York Times. For the moment, the game accessible from a web page will remain free.
We are far from the acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft, or the acquisition of Bungie by Sony. But it’s not a transaction that will go completely unnoticed. In a tweet posted on January 31Josh Wardle, creator of wordle, announced that his game phenomenon has been bought by… the New York Times. This choice may seem surprising but, in reality, it is completely legitimate: the medium has been offering small games since 1942 (and crosswords).
“ I have long admired The New York Times’ approach to games and the respect with which they treat their players. His values are in line with mine on this subject and I am delighted that he will become the guarantor for the future of the game », justifies Josh Wardle. Why does he give up his game originally created for one person? It is simply overwhelmed. He says : ” I’m on my own and it’s important to me that the game continues to provide a great experience. »
Wordle is now owned by The New York Times
” When the game hits the New York Times site, it will continue to be free for everyone, and I’m working with them to make sure your wins and streaks carry over. “Would like to reassure Josh Wardle. To play, you will soon have to go to this page, which brings together all the little games offered by the media. Please note, you must be a subscriber to have access to all the features and to be able, for example, to play unlimited. It is therefore to be hoped that wordle will remain 100% free, a point that will remain at the discretion of The New York Times.
The different games offered by the New York Times :
| Free access | Subscription | |
| Crossword | ❌* | ✅ |
| mini crossword | ✅ (via app) | ✅ |
| Spelling Bee | Limit | ✅ |
| tiles | Limit | ✅ |
| Vertex | Limit | ✅ |
| Sudoku | ✅ | ✅ |
| wordle | ✅ | ✅ |
*access to three old grids, updated weekly
The New York Times paid a seven-figure sum to afford wordle, which means that the price is, at a minimum, one million dollars. That’s expensive for a Motus 2.0 that can be easily copied and whose secrets have already been figured out (so much so that a spoiler-laden bot has wreaked havoc on Twitter). For the New York Times, we understand that the idea is first to recover a brand without harming its creator.