Wordle: New York Times buys viral game for seven-figure sum

Josh Wardle told the Guardian he didn’t want his Wordle game ‘to become a source of stress and anxiety in my life’. Photograph: Tada Images/Shutterstock

The New York Times has acquired the viral word game Wordle for an undisclosed seven-figure sum, the publisher announced on Monday.

Created by a Reddit engineer and launched in October, Wordle gives players just six guesses to determine a five-letter word that changes every day. The soothing daily puzzle has become a hit since its launch, quickly attracting hundreds of thousands, then millions, of players. Social media posts about its game of the day have become ubiquitous, along with screenshots of the game’s distinctive grid.