The E-N-E-M-Y of the individuals has struck A-G-A-I-N.

The New York Times announced Monday that it has bought Wordle. The viral on-line recreation was the one good factor to have occurred to this point this yr, and it is going to be missed (as a standalone web site that appeared to eschew the capitalistic pressures to monetize each final godforsaken inch of life however has now been revealed to be a lie all alongside). The recreation will stay free, no less than for now.

First launched in October, Wordle skyrocketed in recognition over the previous month after a fluffy profile by the exact same New York Times that now owns the sport and its “millions of daily players.” The Times stated that the acquisition value was “in the low-seven figures,” and the publication reports that the soulless buyout of our collective pleasure is a part of its plan to “grow digital subscriptions to 10 million by 2025.”

Created by developer Josh Wardle (get it) as a present for his companion, Wordle is an easy phrase recreation wherein gamers have six tries to guess the five-letter phrase of the day. The recreation additionally made it straightforward (too straightforward?) to share your day by day scores on-line. There are (have been?) no adverts—only a clear black or white background and the pure, unadulterated recreation. Despite being extremely straightforward to cheat at, Wordle exploded in recognition as individuals returned from the winter holidays and wanted a brand new option to procrastinate and create social media content material.

Wardle initially touted Wordle’s ad-free expertise, telling the Times for its profile early this month: “I think people kind of appreciate that there’s this thing online that’s just fun. It’s not trying to do anything shady with your data or your eyeballs. It’s just a game that’s fun.”

Now, in fact, the sport is owned by a company price $6.7 billion.

Unlike a lot of the content material on the Times’ web site, Wordle will start its life as part of the publication’s money-making technique as a free recreation that received’t be behind the Times paywall. But the corporate’s press launch doesn’t precisely encourage confidence: “At the time it moves to The New York Times, Wordle will be free to play for new and existing players, and no changes will be made to its gameplay,” it reads. Since there’ll presumably be ample time after Wordle strikes underneath the Times umbrella, that leaves lots of alternatives for the sport to change into markedly not-free.

Of course, with Wordle inspiring unnumbered copycats which are lining the pockets of people who find themselves not Josh Wardle, a cynic would say that this tragic flip of occasions was inevitable. Anything good that seems on-line will finally be bought, monetized, and lowered to a worthwhile husk of its former self.