When we think ofpopular social appswhich could pivot towards gaming, names like Discord and Telegram are among the first that come to mind. However, Netflix recently proved us wrong withNetflix Gamesspawning a sea of titles playable on TV and your mobile devices. Now, it appears Microsoft has the same idea, but it plans to pivot a seemingly unrelated platform in this direction — LinkedIn.
What is LinkedIn and how do you use it?
LinkedIn can be the missing key to help boost your professional career
LinkedIn is one of the most popular platforms for corporate and workplace networking, where users can interact with companies, their staffers, partners, and other jobseekers and freelancers. The platform has over a billion users, but is focused on curating company profiles, job listings, employee experiences, upskilling courses, and candidate profiles. As things stand today, LinkedIn’s website, web app, and mobile apps aren’t even remotely gaming-focused, unless you’re applying to jobs for sport.
However, independent app researchers likeNima Owjihave spotted code for LinkedIn suggesting the company is working on at least three titles, namedInference,Crossclimb, andQueens. Speaking toTechCrunch, a LinkedIn representative confirmed that the company is working on these puzzle-style games.
The spokesperson said LinkedIn is hoping the on-platform games will unlock avenues for players to communicate, have fun, and establish relationships. To this effect, screenshots Owji shared show a screen mentioning how many of your LinkedIn connections have played a certain game and how high your company ranks. Owji claims the company rankings are tied to how staffers perform in games.
However, LinkedIn told TechCrunch Owji’s screenshots weren’t the latest, and the game development efforts have advanced since. The latest imagery from the social platforms reveals a much more polished UI, which instantly reminds us of Google’sGameSnacksinitiative. The screenshots show the titles are optimized for mobile, and corroborate the three titles Owji found.
A novel concept is taking shape
Updated screenshots of LinkedIn’s puzzle games
While the idea of people abandoning professional pursuits to play games on LinkedIn sounds absurd, a lot depends on Microsoft’s implementation, although the spokesperson refused to mention timelines and how deeply the company is involved in LinkedIn’s efforts. It’s worth noting the tech titan has grown into a gaming titan, with brands like Xbox and Activision Blizzard under its belt.
If LinkedIn nails the user experience, we hope to see more small-scale games like this soon, because in addition to requesting positive reviews on Glassdoor and LinkedIn, your boss may ask you to play and get the company’s rankings up, but not on company time, of course!
