The New York Times acquires Wordle for seven figures

The New York Times announced today that it has acquired Wordle for an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures.

Wordle, which gives players six tries to guess a five-letter mystery word, will now join New York Times Games’ portfolio of puzzle games which include Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed, Tiles and Vertex. Wordle was developed by Josh Wardle, a software engineer in Brooklyn. It was released to the public in October 2021, and is now played by millions of players daily.

“If you’re like me, you probably wake up every morning thinking about Wordle, and savoring those precious moments of discovery, surprise and accomplishment. The game has done what so few games have done: It has captured our collective imagination, and brought us all a little closer together. We could not be more thrilled to become the new home and proud stewards of this magical game, and are honored to help bring Josh Wardle’s cherished creation to more solvers in the months ahead,” said Jonathan Knight, general manager for The New York Times Games.

As the game moves to the New York Times website, Wordle will still be free to play for new and existing players, and no changes will be made to its gameplay.