Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, has reversed its earlier stance and is resuming full contributions to the open-source WordPress project. This decision marks an end to a contentious ‘pause’ and is pivotal for the WordPress ecosystem, which powers 43% of the web, especially after earlier indications that WordPress 6.8 might be 2025’s final major release.
According to Automattic, this return is driven by its enduring mission to democratize publishing for everyone. CEO Matt Mullenweg, in internal communications reported by TechCrunch, expressed a desire for a WordPress 6.9 release this year, featuring an admin refresh and new AI capabilities, stating, “I don’t think that will happen without our contributions.”
The strategic pivot unfolds against a backdrop of ongoing legal disputes with competitor WP Engine, significant layoffs at Automattic, and a period of intense scrutiny over WordPress governance.
Other factors beyond the stated mission, such as external pressures, business and reputational considerations, or developments in the WP Engine litigation, may have influenced this U-turn.
Automattic itself stated the pause provided valuable insights, allowing them to gain “a greater awareness of the many ways WordPress is used and how we can shape the future of the web alongside so many passionate contributors,” and is committed to helping again WordPress grow and thrive with the global community. The company plans to discuss the future of the web at the upcoming WordCamp Europe.
The Controversial Pause and Its Precursors
Automattic’s decision to significantly scale back its involvement with the WordPress.org platform became starkly evident in early 2025. The company announced in January that it was reallocating resources due to what it termed “legal attacks” initiated by WP Engine and “funded by Silver Lake, a large private equity firm,” specifically mentioning WP Engine and citing criticism from parts of the WordPress community.
This led to a dramatic drop in Automattic’s Five for the Future contributions—a WordPress initiative encouraging organizations to dedicate 5% of their resources to WordPress development—which had been slashed from 3,539 hours per week on January 1 to just 45. By May Automattic’s Five for the Future page showed 76 people contributing 500 hours per week.
This reduction followed earlier disruptions. In December 2024, Matt Mullenweg announced a temporary suspension of several free WordPress.org services, including new account registrations and plugin submissions.
He attributed this to the strain from the WP Engine legal battle and the need for a ‘holiday break’ for volunteers, even stating he was “legally compelled to provide free labor and services to WP Engine thanks to the success of their expensive lawyers.”
Legal Entanglements and Governance Debates
The conflict with WP Engine, a prominent managed WordPress hosting provider, had escalated significantly. A key moment came in December 2024 when a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction against Automattic.
As detailed earlier, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín found Automattic’s actions targeted WP Engine to disrupt its business. The court ordered Automattic to restore WP Engine’s access to WordPress.org and, critically, reverse its fork of the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin.
Automattic had created a competing version, ‘Secure Custom Fields’ available on WordPress.org, a move WP Engine condemned, describing Mullenweg’s actions as “extraordinarily concerning” and an “attempt to unilaterally take control” of the open platform.
WP Engine further stated this posed a “grave risk of upending and irreparably harming the entire WordPress ecosystem” and demonstrated a “serious abuse of trust” and “breach of the promises of openness.”
These legal challenges were compounded by internal restructuring at Automattic, including laying off approximately 16% of its staff in late January 2025. Mullenweg described these as “difficult decisions” he had to make to “protect Automattic’s long-term future.”
He elaborated that while revenue was growing, the company needed to “improve our productivity, profitability, and capacity to invest” to support customers and products in a highly competitive and rapidly evolving market.
The period since then also saw a governance crisis flare up, with Mullenweg suspending the WordPress.org accounts of several key community figures in January, including Joost de Valk and Heather Burns.
These moves prompted calls for systemic reform, with developer Michael Willman filing a legal motion to establish an independent governance oversight board for WordPress.org, arguing that “the ban was retaliatory and inconsistent with the principles of fairness and transparency that the platform purports to uphold.”
Meanwhile, a proposed class action lawsuit by a WP Engine customer against Automattic and Mullenweg is proceeding, with an amended complaint expected.
Future Implications and Unanswered Questions
Automattic’s renewed commitment to WordPress Core, Gutenberg, Playground, and Openverse signals a potential recalibration of its strategy. The company has not yet specified the exact number of contributors it will bring back or if previous contribution pledge levels will be restored.
The pause had led WordPress leadership to consider shifting to a one-release-per-year schedule. Interestingly, the current WordPress 6.9 development cycle page on WordPress.org still lists Matt Mullenweg as the Release Lead but describes it as the first major release of 2026, a detail that may change following this new announcement.
It remains to be seen how this renewed engagement impacts the platform’s trajectory and addresses the governance concerns that marked the preceding months.
