Wordle, an online word game which has seen a surge in popularity recently, has been bought by The New York Times.

The deal, which saw the media company take over running the game from creator Josh Wardle, was for “an undisclosed price in the low seven figures”.

Wordle sees players try and guess a five letter word each day, with players able to share their scores with others on social media.

It was invented by Mr Wardle, a software engineer from New York, and released in October 2021.

Some 90 people played it on the first day it was released, and now millions check in daily to guess the mystery word.

In a tweet sharing the news, Mr Wardle said: “The game has gotten bigger than I ever imagined (which I suppose isn’t that much of a feat given I made the game for an audience of 1).”

He added: “I’d be lying if I said this hasn’t been a little overwhelming.

“After all, I am just one person, and it is important to me that, as Wordle grows, it continues to provide a great experience to everyone.

“Given this, I am incredibly pleased to announce that I’ve reached an agreement with The New York Times for them to take over running Wordle going forward.”