For subscribers to The New York Times who are as interested in solving Wordle or completing the daily crossword as they are in reading the latest political or business news, Wednesday marked a significant milestone. The Times' popular Games unit has officially launched Crossplay, a Scrabble-like electronic feature that represents its very first designed multiplayer game. This new addition becomes the website's eleventh game, joining a lineup of puzzles that were collectively played over 11.2 billion times throughout 2025.
A Strategic Digital Expansion Beyond News
Ancillary products like Games, alongside the cooking app and Wirecutter product recommendations, have fueled remarkable digital growth at The New York Times over the past decade. "It has been a huge boon to the journalism," remarked Dan Kennedy, a professor at Northeastern University. The Times reports it now employs approximately 3,000 journalists on staff, its highest number ever and more than double the figure from a decade ago. This growth is particularly notable given the broader industry's challenges; while over 350,000 journalists worked at U.S. newspapers in 2005, that number had plummeted to just 91,550 by last year, according to data from Northwestern University.
The 'Solar System' Model of Media
The Times often likens itself to a solar system, with the newspaper as the sun and other products like Games orbiting around it. Some observers have even joked that it resembles a game company that happens to produce news. Research from YipitData in 2023 indicated that subscribers spent more time engaging with Games than with the digital newspaper itself, highlighting the unit's central role in user retention and daily habits.
By the end of last September, The New York Times reported 12.33 million subscribers, a 9% increase from 2024, with all but about half a million of these being digital-only. Subscription revenue for digital products surged by 14%, and approximately half of Times subscribers opt for a $30 monthly package that bundles all offerings, while the remainder purchase portions à la carte. Notably, last year saw a decline in subscriptions solely for news, underscoring the value of these supplementary digital products.
The Wordle Phenomenon and Strategic Acquisitions
A pivotal moment for The Times' Games app arrived in 2022 with the acquisition of Wordle, the addictive puzzle created by Brooklyn software engineer Josh Wardle. The game, which challenges players to guess a five-letter word in as few attempts as possible, was played a staggering 4.2 billion times last year alone. Morning social media feeds are often filled with users sharing their daily results, celebrating successes or lamenting failures.
"I knew we could get to this scale," said Jonathan Knight, the company's head of games, reflecting on the rapid growth. "I didn't think we could get to it in this amount of time." Knight's team maintains a disciplined approach, inspired by Wordle's daily rhythm, and typically introduces only one new high-quality game per year to avoid diluting the experience with lower-quality offerings.
Fostering Community and Engagement
The Games unit actively engages with its dedicated user base through newsletters and forums specific to each puzzle. "They are fanatical," Knight noted. "They care deeply. They're very passionate. They're also very kind and joyful people, and we really value engaging with the community all the time." This community-driven approach has been instrumental in sustaining popularity and refining game offerings.
While not every experiment succeeds—Digits, a numbers-based logic puzzle, was discontinued after two attempts—the team remains cautious about math-focused games. Successful additions like Connections, which requires players to group related items, demonstrate the unit's ability to innovate within its core strengths.
Introducing Crossplay: A New Multiplayer Experience
The debut of Crossplay taps into the enduring appeal of word games like Scrabble, offering a fresh alternative to ad-heavy competitors such as Scrabble Go. While similar in concept, Crossplay features distinct elements, including a uniquely designed game board and adjusted letter values. Players can invite friends to compete, challenge a computer opponent, track records, and utilise the Cross Bot feature for post-game analysis and strategic tips.
Unlike other individual Times games, Crossplay is available as a standalone downloadable app, signalling the company's commitment to expanding its gaming footprint. "We're respectful of your time," Knight emphasised. "We're not trying to get you in the app all day. We don't want 24/7 engagement. We want a very healthy daily habit where you feel good about what you've done."
This launch underscores The New York Times' evolving business model, where games and digital products not only drive subscriber growth but also support its journalistic mission. As Knight summarised, "I now get out of bed in the morning knowing that the work I do is advancing the mission that we have as a company—seek the truth, understand the world, keep the journalists independent and well-funded."
