LinkedIn adds games to the social network to encourage users to spend more time on the platform
LinkedIn, a social network owned by Microsoft, is known as a platform for people seeking to build connections and gain knowledge for professional purposes, as well as for recruiting. Now it has become known that LinkedIn is working on new functionality that has nothing to do with work.
According to TechCrunch, LinkedIn’s work on gaming began on the same wave of “puzzle craze” that helped simple games like Wordle become viral and attract millions of players. The first three projects of the social network are games called Queens, Inference, and Crossclimb.
Application researchers have started to find code that points to these games on LinkedIn. One of them, Nima Ouji, said that one of the ideas LinkedIn seems to be experimenting with is that player ratings will be organized by job location, and companies will be “ranked” by these ratings.
A LinkedIn spokesperson confirmed that the company is working on games, but said that the launch date has not yet been determined.
“We’re toying with adding puzzle-based games to the LinkedIn experience to unlock some fun, deepen relationships, and hopefully create an opportunity for conversations. Stay tuned for more!” said a company spokesperson.
The spokesperson added that the images shared by the researcher on X (Twitter) are not the final versions.
BREAKING: #LinkedIn is working on IN-APP GAMES!
There are going to be several different games and companies will be ranked in the games based on the scores of their employees!
Pretty cool and fun, in my opinion! pic.twitter.com/hLITqc8aqw
– Nima Owji (@nima_owji) March 16, 2024
LinkedIn’s owner, Microsoft, is a gaming giant. Its gaming business, which includes Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax, generated $7.1 billion in revenue last quarter, surpassing Windows’ for the first time. The social network has an audience of about 1 million users.
A LinkedIn spokesperson declined to say how or whether Microsoft is involved in the LinkedIn gaming project.
Other companies that have bet on the games reportedly got mixed results. Facebook, the world’s largest social network, has been the main driver of social gaming for many years. But in 2022, it shut down its separate gaming app amid declining popularity: today, it is focusing much more on mixed reality and its Meta Quest business.
Over the years, LinkedIn has tried out a number of different new features to boost how and how much people use its platform. These tools range from online education and professional development efforts to publishing and news activities, to leveraging more video tools and engaging creators and thought leaders.
Earlier, Artem Zhmursky, QA Tech Lead, asked on LinkedIn whether Ukrainian IT professionals were satisfied with the professional social network. He encouraged users to write their impressions of using the social network. The post garnered more than 200 reactions, and in almost 100 comments, IT professionals expressed their dissatisfaction with Microsoft’s development.
