There’s an important piece of background here that non-NYT subscribers might not realise: this newspaper is extremely serious about games. So the first order of business is really to bring it on to the NYT site, introduce our audience to Wordle, and Wordle’s audience to the New York Times, and go from there.” Clearly Wordle has created a huge daily engagement phenomenon and we see intrinsic value in that. “Our strategy is to have more people spending more time with the Times – both the news and our products around the news, whether thats games or cooking or audio or Wirecutter. So why would the NYT pay a seven-figure sum for something that it’s not going to directly monetise? “Our number one priority is around users and engagement,” says Knight. Photograph: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images The New York Times is extremely serious about games. Josh has said publicly that he was inspired by our games – he and his partner play Spelling Bee.” “We have a fairly minimalist design to our games,” says Knight. The NYT’s own games, as well as the Wordle page and app, are all reassuringly stylish there’s an Apple-like concern with cleanliness and uniformity in both the visual design and the user experience. Those worried about the game being suddenly plastered with ads can probably relax, too. I think we have a good sense of why it’s so popular and we’re committed to maintaining that game design.” “Our number one objective is to continue what makes this game so special – I think in that regard we are more like stewards at the beginning.
“It’s a little early for us to talk about where we might go with the game,” says the NYT’s general manager of games, Jonathan Knight. That doesn’t mean that Wordle will never be locked behind a paywall, but for now it won’t – and bear in mind that the NYT currently lets nonsubscribers play some of its other games and crosswords for free. In its announcement, the NYT said Wordle would “initially” remain free to current and new users.
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