Following its New York Times acquisition, The New York Times purchased Wordle for over $1 million. The company officially migrated the famous five-by-six square grid to its website Thursday, and though the game looks exactly the same on the New York Times site, the Wordle dictionary has shrunk.
Wordle garnered a massive player base through its simplistic gameplay and viral share feature, and a plethora of clones have popped up, attempting to mooch some of its success. While some Wordle clones are frustrating mobile games with pesky microtransactions and ads, some developers have successfully duplicated the viral word game, offering unique spins on its central gameplay feature. Lordle of the Rings, a Lord of the Rings-themed Wordle clone, is one such example, limiting the daily answers to words inspired by Tolkien’s Middle Earth. Several unique variations have popped up but none have quite captivated audiences like Wordle.
As reported by Wordle’s transition to The Times website continues, more vulgar responses will be removed from the game.
The censored Wordle dictionary isn’t surprising given the viral word game’s new ownership. The New York Times has a history of keeping its articles profanity-free and its Spelling Bee game – which tasks players with making words from a set of seven unique letters – also omits a variety of offensive answers. Those looking to use vulgar phrases can try Lewdle, an NSFW Wordle clone made by Star Wars writer Gary Whitta. The word game is almost identical to Wordle in every way, except it tasks players with determining the naughty five-letter answer in six guesses.
Beyond the omission of offensive words, The New York Times’ Wordle acquisition has not done much to change the beloved word game. The purchase did initially spark paywall fears, despite Josh Wardle promising to keep Wordle free. Thankfully, The New York Times has kept Wordle free to play, for now. Many believed (and some still do) that The New York Times would hide Wordle behind a subscription, much like its other word games. Though it spent more than $1 million, the company has promised to keep Wordle temporarily free, and at the time of writing, the game’s massive player base can still make guesses free of charge. Wordle’s move to New York Times’ website did ruin streak scores for some players, but those affected have seen their streaks return after the successful migration.
Source: Polygon
