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SAN FRANCISCO—When the New York Times scored a daily puzzle mega-hit Wardle There were a lot of skeptics who were convinced that early 2022 marked the end of the game’s incredible viral rise. It included people.
In a presentation at Thursday’s Game Developers Conference, Times game producer and industry veteran Zoe Bell said the new owners expected: WardleDaily users “would quickly decline” after the acquisition. I was afraid. But it was also a simple recognition of the usual cycle of viral “zeitgeist” games.
However, just over a year after the acquisition, Mr. Bell said, Wardle He said this was largely due to a patient “do no harm first” strategy that never sought to monetize the game directly or seek to make many half-hearted changes to the game’s success formula. she said. .
If it’s not broken…
bell said Wardle The still “impossibly high” daily player count is a testament to the success of that strategy. Before the Times acquisition, Bell said: Wardle From 90 players on November 1, 2021, to 300,000 by the end of the year. And while that exponential growth will inevitably slow, Bell said. Wardledaily users peaked at tens of millions of players in March 2022 (which is Wardle Results will be shared on Twitter).
Zoe Bell
After that peak Wardle‘s daily player count is declining much more slowly than for similar viral hits. Pokémon GO and in us, according to the Data.ai estimate provided by Bell. In fact, by early 2023, Wardle According to Bell’s chart, daily player numbers are still about half of their peak in March, a level of interest that has remained relatively stable and high since August.
The Times were in no rush to make changes, but Wardle After the purchase, Bell acknowledged some unintended snafus with the transition.
The game was moved to The New York Times’ servers (from 3 different URLs where original creator Josh Wardle hosted the game), causing technical issues and some players struggling to get it I lost my streak. Also, when The Times narrowed down the solutions list to its editorial standards, some players who didn’t refresh their browsers were unable to sync with their friends.
The Times was initially not only from the game’s solution set, GuessAfter all, “people like to guess racial slurs and foul language as their first guess,” Bell said.
After receiving angry feedback questioning why The Times was “trying to crack down on our speculation,” Bell said the team reverted the change. is not Wardle She pointed out that it was a message board for harassing other players. “if you want to [guess] That, go ahead.”
“… don’t break it”
After these initial headaches, the Times team refocused on coding only two major changes. The game was re-coded from the ground up in React (which allows him to integrate the game into the NYT’s mobile game app, along with its famous crosswords). Ability for players to sign in with their New York Times account (to track reliable statistics across browsers and devices).
The Times took time to implement these changes, with an eventual rollout planned for summer 2022. Even when daily user numbers peaked in his March, when competing apps dominated search. Wardle Bell said The Times’ management was “very patient” and took their time with these efforts to make sure they had a “seamless experience.”
Patience seems to have paid off.nevertheless Wardle In 2022, 35% of new Times Games subscribers cited gaming as the reason they purchased a subscription, Bell said. “Just like people used to buy newspapers in the comics section, people now come to the Times for her Wordle,” she said.
The biggest change from summer is the naming. Wardle Editor Tracy Bennett in October. That means there are people who “curate their word lists” and set a daily rhythm between difficult and easy words. It also allows players to think on their opponent’s side when playing each day. “You can blame Tracy when your streak is broken,” Bell joked.
But even that small curatorial change isn’t without its problems.When Bennett started matching daily Wardle Solutions for major events in the calendar (e.g. “FEAST” as a solution for Thanksgiving) Some players claimed the new editor was messed up. WardleBell said the team has learned its lessons and has no plans to offer more mundane-themed solutions in the future.
And that’s because Bell, the Times’ team, is making even small changes. Wardle from now on. This is a statistical caveat. 95% of players say they are somewhat or very satisfied with their current game.
Even an incredibly small change or issue can be a big deal when you’re running a big viral hit.When tens of millions of people are playing your game, they’re You notice everything,” Bell said. “If it hasn’t broken in a while, it’s fine to move on… [It’s OK to] Buy the games you love and treat them like you made them. ”
