Spotify is shutting down Heardle, the music-guessing game inspired by Wordle, less than a year after acquiring the game for an undisclosed amount.

“Thanks for playing Heardle, but unfortunately we have to say goodbye,” a pop-up message reads on the Heardle website. “From May 5th, Heardle will no longer be available.”

Spotify purchased Heardle last July amid the frenzy around Wordle, the word-guessing game created by Josh Wardle that the New York Times picked up in early 2022. At the time, Spotify said Heardle would serve as another music discovery tool for the platform and, in the future, would become available to listeners around the world in their native languages.

But less than a year later, Spotify has abandoned that plan as Heardle becomes the latest casualty in Spotify’s ongoing efforts to trim costs. “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to say goodbye to Heardle as we...