Gaming Journalists Told 'News Bigger Than ABK Takeover' Was Coming - Turns Out It Was Naughty Wordle
After a Tweet went viral following the Activision Blizzard takeover by Microsoft, gaming journalists began panicking.
Mel Ramsay
25th Jan 2022 16:05
Wordle | Activision Blizzard
The gaming community is still reeling from the Activision Blizzard buyout by Xbox-owning Microsoft. The deal, that cost a reported $68million, shook us to our core. There have been reports about a toxic environment and infamous 'frat-boy culture' lawsuit, as the state of California continues its investigation into the ongoing problems at the root of the company.
There have been walkouts by staff, the complete blackout of reporting on said company by some gaming outlets (which, honestly, seems pointless as the last thing the staff needs is fewer eyes on the company), and with the Overwatch 2 release date being pushed back, things weren't looking great. Then, out of nowhere, Microsoft swoops in with the biggest gaming deal any of us have ever seen. Absolutely dwarfing the $7.5billion acquisition of Bethesda by Microsoft not too long ago.
The Tweet That Broke The Internet
So, as you can probably imagine, gaming journalists were shaken to their core. Personally, I had around four group chats just absolutely losing their minds. The idea of Crash Bandicoot now being an Xbox symbol was enough to reduce some people to a giddy mess. As journalists scrambled to get the latest information, speaking to contacts they have within ABK and those close to the situation, another Tweet dropped. And it sent a chill down the spine of every gaming journalist in the world (who happened to see it).
Garry Whitta, the former PC Gamer editor-in-chief, a well-known name in the industry, wrote 18 words that sent gaming journalists into a frenzy:
The timing, impeccable. It reached potentially millions of people, was liked by 18k, and shared by thousands. Many of which work in gaming media. It was too much. What could this possibly be? Is Elon Musk about to buy up every IP in gaming? Could Tencent be about to gobble up PlayStation? Who knew. All we knew was, we cared.
Some journalists were having fever dreams about what it could possibly mean. This wasn't some random Tweet from an insignificant account, this was a former PC Gamer editor. He's verified! This guy's got some inside info, and we need to prepare ourselves accordingly. Some gaming PR companies were considering reshuffling their calendars to make room for this massive announcement. Gaming journalists all over the world were writing skeleton articles for anything they thought this news could be, so that they could get a head start on the news. It was exciting, and terrifying.
However, as quickly as the news spread, it went quiet. No one seemed to be talking about this massive announcement. Was it off? Had it been cancelled? Well, no. Not quite.
The Wordle Hurdle
By checking our Gaz's Twitter a few days later, it turns out the big reveal had been, well, revealed. It was an NSFW version of Wordle. The announcement that had caused countless racing heartbeats and lost sleep was nothing more than a p*sstake tweet to promote a sexy version of the game most people have now muted from their Twitter timelines.
Now, this is no shade to Gary. When you look at his initial Tweet through the lens of hindsight, it makes perfect sense. He was being cheeky. It's cute! In fact, it was genius. It reached potentially millions of people due to the timing and wording. He's a marketing genius. But I will still never forgive him for trolling us.
You can play Lewdle here.
About The Author
Mel Ramsay
Mel is GGRecon's former Editor-in-Chief. She was previously a senior journalist at LADbible.
