Wordle, a company that creates visual representations of words, has been acquired by The New York Times for an undisclosed amount. Wordle was founded in 2009 by two former Google employees, and the company has since developed a popular tool for creating word clouds and other visual representations of text. Wordle’s acquisition by The New York Times signals the increasing importance of visual representation in journalism. As news organizations strive to be more user-friendly and engaging, visual representations are becoming increasingly important tools for conveying information. Wordle’s toolkit will be valuable resources for The New York Times’ journalists, who can use it to create visually appealing stories and infographics. ..
Wordle is a simple word game that’s positively blown up recently. It was only a matter of time before a big company moved in, and The New York Times has purchased the web-based game for somewhere “in the low seven figures.”
NYT didn’t provide an exact figure when it announced its purchase of the game, but for Josh Wardle, who made Wordle by himself, anything in the seven-figure range sounds like a life-changing amount of money.
As far as what this means for people who need to get their daily Wordle fix, Wardle says the game will remain free-to-play even though NYT puts most of its best content behind a paywall.
“When the game moves to the NYT site, it will be free to play for everyone, and I am working with them to make sure your wins and streaks will be preserved,” said Wardle in an image attached to a tweet.
— Josh Wardle (@powerlanguish) January 31, 2022
However, NYT said the “game would initially remain free to new and existing players,” which leaves it open for the company to charge for the game at some point later.
Obviously, money is a factor, but Wardle also called keeping up with the game “overwhelming.” It’s hard to blame him. A game becoming a cultural phenomenon seemingly overnight has to be a lot for one person to manage.
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