Wordle Going Behind A Paywall Misses The Point Of What Makes It So Special

thegamer.com:

Like almost everything in our twisted world, Wordle has succumbed to the whims of capitalism. Earlier this week, creator Josh Wardle announced that he had decided to sell the wholesome guessing game to the New York Times for a healthy seven-figure sum.

Good for him, the man created something that caught the attentive imaginations of millions and earned a worthwhile profit for his genius, although that is a rather steep asking price for an application that has already been replicated countless times while even the current version can be saved to locally to avoid dealing with the inevitable paywall.

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It feels like a weird deal, but the New York Times clearly smelt a money trail and wished to jump on Wordle before anyone else did. The publication also helped inspire Wardle to shape the game into what it eventually became, so it’s a fitting second home for the green, grey, and yellow tiles we’ve all become so accustomed to.

But I won’t be playing it when the transition of ownership eventually rears its head. While it has been said that Wordle will remain a free experience for the time being, it will inevitably shift behind a paywall and be inundated with additional features and ideas that simply aren’t necessary. History dictates it must iterate upon itself to maintain relevancy.

The beauty of Wordle is in its simplicity, which is why it caught the attention of so many in the past few weeks. Being able to open our phones before taking a handful of deductive guesses at a single word helped ignite our brains in the morning, encouraging us to share our successes and failures with others without ever unveiling exactly what the answer might be.

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