Wordle, the hit puzzle game that requires players to guess a five-letter word in six attempts. With a new word added daily, Wordle has seen immense popularity as people log on every day to try and guess the new word. This popularity has meant many things for developer Josh Wardle and the simple yet effective game, including the development of spinoff or clone games, such as Squabble, which somehow takes the Wordle format and turns it into a battle royale.
Perhaps the most obvious indication of Wordle’s popularity though is in the purchasing of the game by the New York Times a month ago. If a player tries to log into the old website to play for their daily word, they will instead be redirected to the New York Times’ website. At first this purchase was seen as quite the controversial event, with fans being worried about the growing trend of industry acquisitions. It seems that some of the original game’s qualities may already have been altered by the New York Times, though this may not have been deliberate.
As a game that’s played daily, many Wordle players enjoy wearing their daily streak as a badge of honor among fellow players. However, players are now logging in to see that their daily streaks have suddenly disappeared. At first, many believed this to be a factor of the New York Times’ acquisition of the game, yet now it appears the New York Times are unaware of what’s causing the glitch as well. In a recent tweet the New York Times Wordplay account confirmed the company was aware of the issue and would be investigating.
Later, the New York Times Wordplay Twitter updated fans stating that it had found the source of the issue, and that the games team would be working on a fix as soon as possible. Many still shared their frustrations at the glitch though, which caused players to lose the streaks they’d built up over weeks. For one player, they also were unable to log into Wordle as the game reset for them. “No stats, no settings, nothing. My 44-day streak, gone,” said the player. The puzzle game may have a simple premise, but many players do take pride in the strategies used to play Wordle efficiently, meaning to then lose a streak is quite the blow.
There is currently no word on when players will be able to see their streaks again, or if they ever will. Many who were at first skeptical of the New York Times’ acquisition of the game are now feeling as though their concerns were well-founded, as they see Wordle’s migration as the source of this issue.
Wordle is available now.
