How This JavaScript Game Made More Than $1,000,000

#javascript #webdev #discuss #career

In this article I will explain how the game "Wordle" was worth more than $1,000,000.

Keep reading to learn how, ONE DAY, your game could be worth even more ;)

The Story of Wordle

Josh Wardle, a former Reddit software engineer, knew that his partner liked word games, so he created one for just the two of them, and called it Wordle.

They also shared it to their relatives on Whatsapp, which got them so much positive feedback that they decided to release it to the world wide web.

This graph shows the extremely rapid rise of Wordle:

The most prominent source of this popularity is Twitter, where users have endlessly memed the colored grid of Wordle:

Marques Brownlee

@mkbhd

I swear I almost threw my phone

Wordle 234 5/6

⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
⬛🟩🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

15:06 PM - 08 Feb 2022

Ryan Hartman

@rhartman

I've mastered Wordle.

My new game is trying to create words and intentionally avoid the correct word in order to make patterns.

Wordle 207 6/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

20:26 PM - 12 Jan 2022

Not long after this fame, the New York Times reached out to Josh Wardle, in an offer to buy his game and add it to their collection of word games.

He agreed, and the game was sold for an undisclosed amount. The only public information they shared was that it was between $1,000,000 and $10,000,000 (it was in the "low seven-figures")

Josh Wardle

@powerlanguish

An update on Wordle

21:32 PM - 31 Jan 2022

Oldest comments (5)

TheSkavin • Feb 12 '22 • Edited

QUESTION: Do you play Wordle in the morning?
Like for Yes, Reply for No.

Posandu • Feb 13 '22

yes

TheSkavin • Feb 13 '22

I COMPLETELY agree! The most valuable thing about Wordle was its hundreds of thousands of daily active users!

Valeria • Feb 13 '22

I find the Wordle story inspiring. It was created without any monetisation in mind, gone viral, has been cloned by shameless opportunists, yet got a huge support from the community and eventually brought the creator the well-deserved credit. Now NY times could've just had an intern do a copy and would've get away with it. But they decided to not only pay the original creator, but to keep the game free and even keep user stats. I'd love for more companies to see the value of good publicity and more creators being rewarded for their creativity and passion.