2 weeks ago
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If you’ve been down in the dumps since the New York Times software workers went on strike, unable to get your daily Connections fix, don’t fret. There’s a way to play your favorite train commute games without crossing the picket line. The minds behind Wordle, Connections, the Crossword, and more made their own games you can play for free or—better yet—use as a vehicle to donate to workers to help them pay bills as the strike continues.
The New York Times Tech Guild begged subscribers to quit playing the Time’s games while the strike continues. In a statement, the New York Times Tech Guild, representing the striking software engineers, said the games are “scab-free.” The titles include “Word Search,” a version of the crossword; “Connected,” a redux of Connections; and “Strikle,” which is, of course, Wordle. There’s also a version of the classic game Frogger called “Frogger 8th Ave” and “Match Strike,” a memorization game. Unfortunately for Spelling Bee fans, there’s no version of that, at least not yet.
PLAYING GAMES: In the great tradition of strike publications, we offer our tech-worker version.https://t.co/L46DXTrDsp
Now you can play and not be a scab. We also want to thank the multitude of @nytimes subscribers who have stopped playing and honored our digital picket line.
— New York Times Tech Guild (@NYTGuildTech) November 6, 2024
They’re all very rudimentary versions of the well-worn titles, with a look that makes me nostalgic for browser-based games from the early 2000s. However, games like Connected and Strikle are effectively one-for-one recreations of the NYTimes versions. The daily puzzles released Thursday have a strong connection to the strike, so if you were looking for a hint, there’s that.
No, it won’t keep your Wordle streak going, but at the very least, you can keep your morning habits going while the strike continues. The games page also links to the group’s GoFundMe. The strikers have raised around $145,000 as of writing, with a $150,000 goal. The strikers are demanding the Times agree to a contract without a return-to-office mandate, pay and equity raises to address racial disparities in salaries, and protections against “just cause” layoffs.
The New York Times presents itself as a news organization, but its balance sheets show that its real money maker is its games and software division. This includes the NYT Cooking App alongside its games. The publisher told Axios back in January that users played NYTimes’ puzzles and games more than 8 billion times in 2023—in its latest quarterly earnings report, the Times reported it made $919.6 million on its digital subscriptions (including games and cooking, over the last nine months, a 14% increase from the same period last year. The media company’s news-only subscribers are dwarfed by those who subscribe to other single products or bundles. The Times is still running strong, whereas other news organizations are struggling.
© Screenshot: New York Times Tech Guild The New York Times’ tech workers unionized in 2022 and have been in contract negotiations since then. The NYT Games app remains up, and a Times spokesperson previously told The New York Times (I know, recursion) that the company has “robust plans in place” to keep services going.
The strikes took place a few days before Tuesday’s presidential elections. One AI company seemed to think this proved an opportunity to bulldoze over workers. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas tweeted at New York Times publisher AG Sulzberger, saying, “Perplexity is on standby to help ensure your essential coverage is available to all through the election.” Srinivas later tried to clarify to TechCrunch that he wasn’t offering to replace journalists or engineers but to “provide technical infra support on a high-traffic day,” which just so happens to be the jobs the striking workers performed.
If the Perplexity CEO suddenly has standby backend infrastructure support that doesn’t somehow use AI, I’m sure we’d all like to know. Otherwise, we suggest you don’t be like Srinivas and not cross the picket line.
