The popular puzzle Worlde will now be included in a special game subscription of The New York Times. The exact volume of the transaction is not disclosed, but we are talking about the “lower range of seven-digit amounts.”The American newspaper reported about this acquisition on its official website.
The New York Times noted that it intends to become “a key subscription for every English-speaking person seeking to explore the world and interact with it.”
Games are an important part of this strategy. Now the newspaper’s portfolio includes various word puzzles, including Spelling Bee, Tiles and the daily crossword. In 2021, they were played over 500 million times.
Now Worlde is added to this list — a game in which you need to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. NYT hopes that the puzzle will help increase the user base of its gaming and culinary subscription, which reached one million subscribers in December.
Here’s what Worlde creator Josh Wardle said about the deal: “I have long admired The Times’ approach to the quality of their games and the respect with which they treat their players. Their values are the same as mine, so I am very happy that they will manage the game in the future.”
Despite the purchase, Wordle will remain free for everyone — even for those users who do not have a subscription to The New York Times. The newspaper also has no plans to make any changes to the gameplay. However, some experts note that the puzzle’s business model may change in the future.
At the beginning of the year, Worlde became a real phenomenon in social networks, which led to the appearance of numerous mobile clones in the App Store. According to the NYT, by the beginning of January, the game’s audience had grown to 300 thousand people, and now several million users play it daily.