How the NYT Games Chief is Keeping the Spirit of ‘Wordle’ Alive on NBC at Web Summit

The New York Times’ Games division has announced that the highly anticipated Wordle game show will remain faithful to the popular puzzle format and is slated to be filmed this summer. Jonathan Knight, Head of Games, shared insights about the upcoming show during the Web Summit in Vancouver.

“Savannah Guthrie has been by the office,” Knight revealed. “We’ve been developing the show and the format, making sure it’s true to Wordle, that the pacing is right and the different rounds… and we’re taping it in the summer.”

NBC confirmed the greenlighting of Wordle this week, with Savannah Guthrie set to host. The production is a collaborative effort between Universal Television Alternative Studio (UTAS) and Jimmy Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog, with executive production by The New York Times.

The New York Times acquired the word puzzle game in early 2022, and it has quickly gained massive popularity. Players aim to discover a hidden five-letter word within six attempts, and successfully solving it in fewer tries is a point of pride. However, the show’s adaptation to television format is yet to be fully determined.

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While the Times hosts a variety of games, including Connections, Knight tempered expectations for further adaptations. “It’s not something we’re super focused on at the moment; it’s a big project bringing Wordle to TV, so we’re focused on that and excited to see how audiences respond to it,” he said.

Knight elaborated on the elements that contribute to the success of their games: “There’s one puzzle a day that we’re all doing, we’re all involved in solving that together. Once you solve it, you can very safely and comfortably put it down and come back the next day to see what the next day’s puzzle is. We work hard to respect users’ time.”