The New York Times is betting that the Wordle craze isn’t over yet. On Monday, the Times announced that the hit mobile word game will be turned into a game show that will be televised on NBC.
“Today” anchor Savannah Guthrie will host the affair, with The Times and “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon serving as producing partners. Guthrie and Fallon announced the news on Monday’s 8 a.m. broadcast of the “Today” show, sharing that the game show has been in development for the past two and a half years.
The show, which begins airing on NBC next year, is described as “fast-paced” and “a great family game.” This seems a bit different from mobile games, which require the user to spend a lot of time thinking to consider possible options.
This is the first time The Times has collaborated with a television broadcaster on entertainment-based programming and is a new pivot in the media’s bid to build a sustainable digital subscription business as print revenues continue to decline.
Wordle started life as a popular online word puzzle game after being released in October 2021 by Brooklyn software engineer Josh Wardle. The following January, the NYT won the Growing Gaming Business title, almost immediately bringing “tens of millions” of new users to the New York Times. As of last year, users played more than 11 billion puzzles across all games throughout the year, up from 8 billion in 2023, according to NYT Games.
NBC will begin filming episodes of the game show this summer and is currently recruiting contestants.
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