London – Following the trend of diversifying revenue streams to compensate for changes in the media industry that are challenging the ad-supported financing model, The New York Times has licensed the Wordle online game to the toy company Hasbro. A highly analog board game is emerging from the online world.
The word guessing game was bought by the American newspaper in January after it became a spontaneous phenomenon on social media. In its quarterly report released in April, the NYT credits him for the unprecedented millions of new user earnings during this period.
It’s not just the traditional press that bets on games to retain viewers and increase revenue. Spotify has acquired Wordle’s music spin-off, Heardle, and will offer the game within its app as a way to increase engagement for music fans.
Wordle board game now available for pre-order
The launch will take place in North America in October, but the toy is available for pre-sale at a recommended price of US$19.99 (approx R$100) for people over 14 years old. The packaging has the New York Times brand on it.
Created by Josh Wardle, who used his own name to make a word game, Wordle was released in October 2021 and is considered a phenomenon. As a Welsh software engineer living in New York City, he initially created the game for his friends and family, but this fashion soon followed suit.
Various imitations and unofficial versions have been created in many languages, including Portuguese.
The online game is simple: players must try to find a five-letter word with six chances just once a day. The sensation went viral on social media as the actors’ performance could be shared with friends in the form of colored blocks.
The board game, which was created as a result of licensing “Wordle: The Party Game”, will try to recreate this experience and have friends face each other in guessing words. Whoever finds the truth with the fewest tries will be the winner.
The trailer released by Hasbro shows elements of the toy reminiscent of old guessing games from years past. There is nothing technological or electronic that remotely resembles Wordle’s digital origins.
Do you love Wordle? Gather your friends and family together to enjoy your favorite word guessing game in real life with Wordle: The Party Game! Currently available for pre-order #HasbroPulse! pic.twitter.com/ihgsZj9NpX
— Hasbro Pulse (@HasbroPulse) 14 July 2022
Each turn, a player designated as the Wordle Host writes a secret word. Just like in the original Wordle game, players have six attempts to guess a five-letter word competing with each other. The fewer tries a player has to understand the word correctly, the less points they will get.
Players can also choose different ways to play: classic, fast, timed or team play.
Wordle on the board is part of the game strategy
Known worldwide for the quality of its award-winning and influential journalism, The New York Times takes gaming seriously and has a section just for that, The New York Times Games.
Puzzles have been part of the readers’ experience since 1942. In 2014 The Times introduced The Mini Crossword version followed by Spelling Bee, Letter Boxed, Tiles and Vertex and created a menu of alternatives for different skill levels.
However, nothing compares to Wordle, which has come to complete the collection with millions of active user capital on the platform.
Powered by the success in social media, Wordle reached 2 million in January 2022 from 90 daily users in November 2021.
And the move paid off: The game’s nearly $550 million bargain purchase from sports news site The Athletic caused NYT viewership to skyrocket by “tens of millions of users” in the first quarter of the year. 2022. , according to the company.
While Wordle remains free under the newspaper’s ownership, the company says its gaming section has stepped up with the addition of the new title, reaching a record number of subscribers.
The Times said it gained 387,000 subscribers in the quarter, but did not disclose how many came through Wordle.
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“We’re focused on quality puzzles that everyone can experience together, so we’re excited to team up with Hasbro to bring a new format to Wordle,” NYT Games chief Jonathan Knight told the media.
Spotify also bets on interaction
The announcement that Wordle will be a board game comes days after Spotify announced that it had acquired Heardle, a music game that uses music tracks instead of lyrics so users can guess the song and artist. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
Heardle is just one of the few games inspired by its original word. It was started in February by a London-based web designer who remained anonymous.
According to Spotify, the game will remain free for all users, but will be included on the streaming platform as a way to add an “interactive experience” for users.
New font. It sounds good too. #Heardle now supported by Spotify ???? pic.twitter.com/rbuE3dleTU
— Spotify (@Spotify) 12 July 2022
For the company, the game can be used as a “music discovery tool”.
“Playing a Heardle can help you rediscover old tracks, discover great new artists, or know the name of that tune that pops into your head,” Spotify says in a statement.
Heardle has a pun-like mechanic: Players have to guess a song by its first note in six tries a day.
“We are always looking for innovative and fun ways to enhance music discovery and help artists reach new fans,” said Jeremy Erlich, Spotify’s global head of music.
“Heardle has proven to millions of fans with the music they love, new songs and a really fun way to compete with friends to see who has the best musical knowledge.
Since its debut, the game has quickly gained a loyal following and is in line with our plans to deepen engagement within the Spotify ecosystem.”
Herdle is not available in Brazil. Currently, only Spotify users in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand will have access to this feature.
However, the company said that “hundreds of millions of people around the world will soon have the opportunity to play games in their mother tongue.”
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source: Noticias
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