popularity word, the web-based word game developed by Josh Wardle, has spawned countless offshoots and clones since the game was launched back in October of last year. While that might be great with the game’s original creator, The New York Times – who acquired Wordle last january – He indicated that this laissez-faire attitude towards unofficial suggestions for the game is coming to an end.
Wordle Archive, a website that allows users to play through previous daily Wordle puzzles that has been around since early January, has been replaced with a letter stating that the game has been canceled at the request of the New York Times, Ars Technica reports. The Wordle Archive is still playable in its own archive form as of March 5 via the Internet Archive, but the site itself has been discontinued.
“The use was unauthorized, and we’ve been in contact with them,” a New York Times representative told Ars Technica. “We don’t plan to comment further.”
Wordle Archive is far from the only site that allows users to play archived Wordle puzzles, and it’s also not the first to replicate the game’s viral success with a functionality not otherwise offered by the official version. With the game’s multiple branches like Crosswordle, Heardle, Quordle, Dordle, Globle, and more enjoying consistent popularity, the question of whether these games will be allowed to continue becomes a question of how strong the New York Times’ copyright protection will be. now owns.
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