I guess all good free things eventually come to an end.
So it will be with the fun free word game, Wordle, since it's been sold to the New York Times.
They say they'll be adding it to their line-up of online word games soon, and it'll still be free at first. "At first." Sure, until they figure out how to monetize it... which really just means until they get it on their website and start charging a subscription fee.
In case you don't know anything about Wordle.... it's just a simple word game... you play once a day, so you can't really get hooked and then if you wish, you share your results on social media. The sharing is definitely what caused the game to spread like wildfire in the last couple of months.
A software engineer in Brooklyn named Josh Wardle launched the game in October. He originally made it for his partner, because she loves word games so much.
They're not saying exactly how much the Times paid for the game, but it is said to be "low seven figures" for it, so that's in the millions.
Here's what Josh Wardle tweeted about the deal.
I can't say I blame the guy.... I mean, if it were you, and you're offered millions for a word game you created, wouldn't you sell it? You'd be nuts to not do it!
So, kudos to him and hopefully, it will stay free for longer than a little while, until the Times puts it behind their paywall, which they will inevitably do.