CNN — Hasbro is partnering with the New York Times, which owns the popular online word puzzle, to create “Wordle: The Party Game.”
The new board game “delivers classic Wordle gameplay, but now in an all-new way,” the companies said in a press release.
Hasbro approached the New York Times to make a party game after noticing how popular Wordle had become online, according to Hasbro Gaming’s Senior Vice President and General Manager Adam Biehl.
“What sparked our interest was … how much fun people were having posting the results on social media,” Biehl said in an exclusive interview with CNN Business. “That’s when we knew that there was something special about it.”
“Wordle: The Party Game” is one of Hasbro’s fastest launches, Biehl said, as it took the team less than a year to create it. The new title fits into the company’s pop-culture portfolio of games, including Monopoly editions based on “Bridgerton” and “Stranger Things.” Hasbro is paying the Times a licensing fee to use Wordle.
Hasbro’s gaming studio created many versions of the game before landing on the one that’s being released.
“We start with what we’re trying to achieve,” Biehl said, including being “authentic to the Wordle experience as much as possible because we want to capture what got consumers really interested in the game.”
Additionally, the team aimed to match “the quality of what the Times is known for,” Biehl said. “It’s been a fun partnership to work with them on this.”
Pre-orders begin Thursday ahead of the game’s October 1 release. It will be sold on Hasbro’s website, Target, Amazon, and Walmart at a suggested price of $19.99.
The-CNN-Wire
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