The New York Times is seeing a major shift in its user base as more visitors are flocking to its platform for games rather than news. Recent data shows that the number of users engaging with the publication’s games has more than doubled the traffic for news content.
The latest addition to the Times’ game offerings is an experimental word game called “Zorse,” where players guess which words form a portmanteau, such as “zebra” and “horse.”
The move solidifies what some industry analysts have suspected: the Times is becoming as much a destination for gaming as for journalism.
In fact, the New York Times Games app has remained in the top 30 iOS game charts for the past year, even breaking into the top five in March.
The Times has acknowledged that games are a key component of its strategy to attract new users and keep existing subscribers engaged, particularly those less interested in traditional journalism.
Games, along with other offerings, are included in the New York Times’ subscription package, “The Bundle,” which helped the company post a nearly 14% profit growth in the latest quarter, adding approximately 300,000 new subscribers.
