The fight for attention

The New York Times Games: Crafting Daily Habits Through Thoughtful Play

Mr. Jonathan Knight, Head of Games for The New York Times, discussed the recent announcement of Wordle becoming an NBC TV show, hosted by Savannah Guthrie. This partnership, developed over three years with NBC, The Today Show, and Jimmy Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog, aims to translate the game’s appeal to television while maintaining its core essence and pacing.

The Times is open to acquiring innovative games but prioritizes internal development. Following Wordle, their in-house studio successfully launched Connections and Strands, proving their capability to create popular puzzles. The focus remains on the “meaty project” of the Wordle TV show before considering further external acquisitions or new TV adaptations.

The New York Times employs a tiered access model. Many daily puzzles, including Wordle, Connections, and Strands, are free to attract a broad audience. Registering a free account saves user progress, while a full subscription unlocks premium features like archives and analytical tools such as the Wordle bot and Connections bot. The Crossword remains a fully paid product.

Mr. Knight emphasized the Times’ commitment to human-made content, believing users value the craft and curation of their editorial team. While AI tools are utilized for workforce efficiency, content generation remains human-driven. This approach fosters a unique player-editor dynamic, making the puzzles feel like a personal challenge against a human mind.

With over 13 million enterprise-wide subscribers, games serve a dual purpose. They generate standalone revenue and, more significantly, reduce churn for the all-access bundle. Subscribers engaging with both games and news weekly exhibit the highest long-term retention, as games provide a consistent daily habit that complements the news cycle.

The Times faces competition from large companies like Netflix and LinkedIn, which are experimenting with games for engagement, and traditional media outlets with their own puzzle offerings. Mr. Knight highlighted the Times’ differentiation through its long tradition, journalistic standards, and the human element of its puzzles, which are difficult to replicate.

The Times is exploring social and real-world engagement, having recently launched Crossplay, a competitive multiplayer word game, which has seen significant downloads. Beyond word puzzles, they are expanding into visual logic puzzles like PIPs and Tiles. Future considerations include card games and trivia, aligning with their vision of “premier destination for thoughtful play.”

The games product is English-language only, with strong growth in non-US English markets. Full international localization is complex due to diverse cultural puzzle formats. The unique design of Times games, offering one daily puzzle for a shared, time-well-spent experience, fosters healthy daily habits without demanding excessive user engagement.