NYT Games' multiplayer word game Crossplay surpasses one million downloads

• NYT Games says more than 11bn puzzles were solved on its platform in 2025.
• Crossplay is a turn-based word game where players build words on a shared board to score points.
• Matches are decided once all tiles are used, with the highest score taking the win.

The New York Times Games’ multiplayer word game Crossplay has surpassed one million downloads on mobile. 

The game launched on January 20th 2026 as a free-to-play title following NYT's efforts to expand beyond single-player puzzle formats into real-time competitive play. 

NYT Games claimed players solved more than 11 billion puzzles on its platform in 2025, which paved the way for the launch of Crossplay, its first-ever two-player game.

Crossplay is the company's foray into a market with competitors including Zynga's Words With Friends and Scopely's Scrabble Go.

Much like those, the title designed as a head-to-head word game where players take turns building words on a shared board, earning points based on letter rarity and placement. 

Matches end once the tile bag is exhausted, with the highest score deciding the winner. Players can compete against friends, use skill-based matchmaking to find new opponents or practice against AI at various difficulty levels.

Market heavyweights 

When it comes to the competition, Zynga’s Words With Friends generated an estimated $43 million in gross revenue and 3.5m downloads in 2025, according to AppMagic.

Scopely’s Scrabble Go, meanwhile, accumulated generated an estimated $14.2m in revenue and 8.1m installs last year.