Wordle gets acquired by The New York Times, will 'initially' remain free-to-play

Smash online word game Wordle has just been bought from its creator Josh Wardle by The New York Times. The publication bought it for "an undisclosed price in the low seven figures," It will "initially remain free to new and existing players" once it moves over to NYT's site. Wardle said he is working with the company to preserve players' existing wins and streak data once the game migrates to its new home. 

As The Verge pointed out, NYT's announcement leaves plenty of room for the company to put Wordle behind its paywall. Wardle explains it has "been a little overwhelming" running the hugely popular game, given he's the one running it on his own. Wardle created Wordle as a gift to his partner, Palak Shah, after they got hooked on word games (like NYT's Spelling Bee and crosswords) during the pandemic. It was publicly released in late 2020 but has blown up in the last few months, partly due to the viral, emoji-based messages that let players share how they did on the daily puzzle without revealing the word of the day.