Wordle brought “tens of millions” of new users to the New York Times
The New York Times Company’s first-quarter financial results prove what we’ve all known all along: people really like Wordle.
You know the story by now: Josh Wardle made a fun little word game for his partner, shared it with some friends (who happened to be some influential tech people, since, Wardle has worked at places like Reddit and MSCHF), who shared it with some more friends, and eventually, it was all anyone with an internet connection could talk about.
At first, Wardle wasn’t trying to profit off of his ad-free, lightweight word game. But being solely responsible for a viral word game is a big commitment, so at the end of January, he sold the game to the New York Times for an undisclosed amount in the “low seven figures.”
“If you’ve followed along with the story of Wordle, you’ll know that NYT games play a big part in its origins and so this step feels very natural to me,” Wardle said in a tweet. “When the game moves to the NYT 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.”
About three months after Wordle’s sale to the New York Times, the paper announced today that the game brought “an unprecedented tens of millions of new users to The Times.” This drove the company’s best quarter ever for net subscriber additions to Games. Even though Wordle remains free, the New York Times has been covertly advertising its other games like Spelling Bee through Wordle. A subscription to New York Times Games costs $5 per month, or $40 per year.
When Wardle spoke to TechCrunch weeks before the acquisition, he noted that New York Times Games served as an inspiration for the game. Unlike past viral games — think Flappy Bird — the game isn’t addicting, since
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