New York Times acquires Wordle

The New York Times Co said on Monday it had acquired Wordle, a website-only word game that has seen a recent burst in popularity, for an undisclosed price in the low seven figures.

The acquisition will help the New York Times broaden its digital content as it tries to reach the goal of 10 million subscribers by 2025.

The once-a-day online game gives a player six chances to figure out the day’s secret five-letter word, using the least number of guesses.

Wordle – which was originally released in October by former Reddit software engineer Josh Wardle – will continue to be free and there will be no changes to its gameplay, the NYT said.

“Wordle will now play a part in that daily experience, giving millions more people around the world another reason to turn to The Times to meet their daily news and life needs,” it said.

Games and puzzles are a key part of NYT’s strategy to keep its audience engaged on its apps and websites as more readers use their mobile phones and tablets for their daily dose of news and entertainment.

The company added 135,000 members in its latest third quarter for its games, cooking and product review website Wirecutter. (Reporting by Tiyashi Datta and Yuvraj Malik in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva)