The New York Times, owner of the popular puzzle game Wordle, is legally challenging the single developer of Worldle, a location-guessing game. Despite earlier claiming to be okay with similar games, The New York Times argues that Worldle creates consumer confusion and mimics Wordle too closely. The developer, Kory McDonald, is surprised by the lawsuit but intends to continue offering his game, which also includes an ad-free version for a subscription fee.

Why is The New York Times suing the developer of Worldle?

The New York Times is suing the developer of Worldle because they claim his game creates confusion among consumers and closely mimics Wordle in appearance and gameplay, which could potentially capitalize on Wordle's success.

Wordle was created in October 2021 and quickly gained global popularity with its simple yet addictive format of guessing a five-letter word. The New York Times purchased Wordle in 2022 for a seven-figure sum, leading to increased scrutiny of games with similar mechanics. Worldle, which challenges players to identify locations using Google Street View, has been a part of the growing "dotLE" genre that also includes games like Flaggle, which focuses on flags.