"“Tens of millions of people play New York Times Games every single day,” Roper says. “Over half of weekly users are playing more than one puzzle every day and over a quarter are playing four or more. Our puzzles were played 11.2 billion times in 2025. The Mini Crossword was played 1.4 billion times, 1.6 billion successful Connections were made, and Strands was played 1.5 billion times.”"
"Wordle, a simple word game that gives users six chances to guess a five-letter word of the day, was invented in 2021 by software developer Josh Wardle. Within just a few months of its release, it already had 300,000 users. A year later, The Times swept in to acquire the game for a low-seven-figure sum."
"The show will be produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio in partnership with Electric Hot Dog (Jimmy Fallon's production company) and The Times. Wordle's popularity is part of a broader, successful Games operation at The Times that's turned users' interactions with the publication into a daily ritual."
"This is the first instance of The Times associating itself with a prime-time entertainment program on a major broadcaster-and it shows how users' ritual use of games like Wordle has become a central pillar of The Times ' business over the past several years."
A new NBC game show series based on Wordle is planned through a joint venture involving Universal Television Alternative Studio, Electric Hot Dog, and The New York Times. Wordle is a five-letter daily word-guessing game with six attempts. After its 2021 invention, it rapidly gained users and was acquired by The Times for a low-seven-figure sum. The Times reports tens of millions of weekly players, with many users playing multiple puzzles daily. The Games operation has become a major cultural ritual and a central business pillar, with billions of plays across Wordle, The Mini Crossword, Connections, and Strands in 2025.
Read at Fast Company
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