Wordle wars! New York Times threatens to sue people living on Shetland for creating a dialect version of the online game

A Shetland dialect version of the online game Wordle has been taken down after being threatened with legal action.

Creators of the game Wirdle were approached by The New York Times, which owns the copyright to Wordle.

The US newspaper claimed that the minority language version of their game was an infringement of copyright.

Wordle gives players six attempts to find a five-letter word, indicating for each guess which letters are correct or in the wrong place.

Wirdle used five-letter Shetlandic words instead, and attracted around 20,000 unique users.

I Hear Dee, the group that created Wirdle, said that they ‘do not have the means to challenge’ The New York Times and were forced to discontinue the game.

The group said: ‘We regret to have to discontinue Wirdle due to a claim by The New York Times that minority language versions of Wordle are an infringement on their copyright.’

A New York Times spokesman said: ‘The Times has no issue with individuals creating similar word games that do not infringe The Times’ Wordle trademarks or copyrighted gameplay.’