Lost for words
The online daily word game has become a phenomenon on social media over the last month.
Josh Wardle, creator of the game, announced on Monday that the New York Times had acquired it for an undisclosed fee of around seven figures.
Wardle, a Reddit developer, created the game specifically for his puzzle-loving partner and launched the site in October. Wordle gives users six attempts to guess a five letter word, giving hints if the correct letters are used.
The game took off recently, with now over 2 million users drawn to the simplicity of it. There are no ads on site, no paid add-ons and only one word per day.
Speaking to the Guardian recently, Wardle said, "It going viral doesn’t feel great, to be honest. I feel a sense of responsibility for the players. I feel I really owe it to them to keep things running and make sure everything's working correctly."
Then, in a statement released on Monday, Wardle said he had reached an agreement with The New York Times to take over the game going forward.
When the buyout was announced, a lot of players had reservations that the integrity of the game would be kept. The New York Times website is pay-walled, which led to speculation over Wordle's future.
However, NYT promised that Wordle "will be free to play for new and existing players, and no changes will be made to its gameplay."