The New York Times Cracks Down on Wordle Clones
In a recent turn of events, The New York Times issued a takedown notice to Reactle, a popular Wordle clone that gained tremendous popularity in the gaming community. This action led to the removal of approximately 1900 other versions of the game as well.
Reactle, an open-source project developed by Chase Wackerfuss, had been providing instructions on how to create Wordle spin-offs in different languages or themes. However, The NYT’s DMCA notice claimed that Reactle and its forks were infringing on the copyright of Wordle by offering guidelines on producing knock-off games.
As a result of the takedown notice, Github has been urged to delete projects that have forked Reactle, as they also violate The NYT’s copyright. This move comes as The NYT has been actively removing Wordle clones from various platforms ever since they acquired the original game in 2022.
This is not the first time The NYT has taken action against unauthorized versions of Wordle. In the past, they shut down Wordle Archive and introduced a new game called Connections, which was praised for being “unique” and “handcrafted”.
The crackdown on Wordle clones reflects The NYT’s commitment to protecting their intellectual property rights. While some may be disappointed by the removal of these games, it is a reminder of the importance of respecting copyright laws in the world of online gaming.
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