The New York Times' Wordle Acquisition is an Odd, But Fitting Move for 2022

gamerant.com:

One of 2022's biggest gaming crazes has taken the unexpected form of a word puzzle. Titled Wordle, the game has players around the world trying to guess a daily five-letter word in six tries or fewer. Wordle does tell players when the word they have guessed has the correct letters and whether the letters are in the right place, but it can still be a mind-bending exercise and a good way to get the brain cells firing in the morning. Despite the frustration it can evoke, Wordle has quickly managed to amass millions of daily players, and it has become an internet phenomenon.

Wordle is currently a free game, but things may change in the future since The New York Times has announced that it has acquired the game from its creator, Josh Wardle. The New York Times is an American daily newspaper, and although the site has a high readership, it is paywalled behind a subscription fee. While the purchase may seem odd to some, it falls into 2022's pattern of companies buying up games and studios in hopes of cashing in on their skyrocketing popularity.

The Best Words To Start With In Wordle

Wardle is a Brooklyn-based software engineer who once worked for Reddit. He first made Wordle public in October 2021, and it did not take long before it spread like wildfire. The popularity of the game is catalyzed by the fact that players can share their daily results online without spoiling the answers, allowing players to brag about how well they did while encouraging their friends to try and do better.

According to The New York Times, the acquisition was made for a price in the low seven figures, and it is part of the newspaper's plan to increase its subscriber count to 10 million by 2025 through focusing on games such as crosswords. Although the