LinkedIn has always been known as a social platform where professionals meet. But what if it could be more? According to credible reports, the Microsoft-owned social platform is working on adding gaming to further keep its over 1 billion users engaged.
Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch said they have confirmed that Microsoft was working on adding a new game experience to LinkedIn. Already, three games are currently in development for the platform namely Crossclimb, Inference, and Queens.
The first question that will possibly come to the mind of anyone at this point is what kind of games LinkedIn will bring to its platform. Well, the aforementioned games are in the same category as puzzle-mania which helped games like Wordle to go viral and attract millions of players.
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Nima Owji, an independent app researcher and web developer who is always on the lookout for upcoming features of different apps shared the news with watermarked screenshots which gave users of the platform a hint at what the app will look like.
“#LinkedIn is working on in-app games!” wrote Owji on X. “There are going to be a few different games and companies will be ranked in the games based on the scores of their employees!”
There were mixed reactions when Owji shared the news. Some think it is a bad idea and immediately started comparing the move to what Facebook has done.
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NO. Just ….no.
— Richard Griffiths (@DecTenToo) March 16, 2024
LinkedIn goes Facebook
— Marcus Cvjeticanin (@mjovanc) March 16, 2024
However, some thought it was a great idea. One comment said that the gamification of teaching makes it fun.
This is a good addition. They already sort of do this with polls but gamifying teaching tech knowledge will be fun. (And I say tech because I’m in it. You can do this for any industry)
— Joshua Kania (@jdkania33) March 16, 2024
If the words of Owji that companies will be ranked by the scores of their employees turns out to be true, it will be interesting to see how LinkedIn would implement this idea because different companies on the platform have different employee sizes.
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Looking from a different perspective, it will be an interesting idea because it will also foster teamwork among employees of different companies. While there are different possibilities as to how this can go, we highly anticipate an innovation that will be in line with the reputation that the platform has built over the years rather than just reinventing the wheel.
LinkedIn has confirmed it is working on gaming
While LinkedIn’s spokesperson has confirmed that they are working on gaming, they said no launch date has been fixed yet, in a message sent to TechCrunch. Also, the spokesperson said that the images shared by Owji were not the latest version of their gaming project.
“We’re playing with adding puzzle-based games within the LinkedIn experience to unlock a bit of fun, deepen relationships, and hopefully spark the opportunity for conversations,” said the spokesperson.
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When asked if Microsoft was behind LinkedIn’s gaming project, the spokesperson declined to respond. Gaming is a big deal and Microsoft is reaping the dividends of investing heavily in gaming. Last year, it acquired Activision Blizzard for $69 billion after surmounting legal roadblocks.
Microsoft’s gaming business—which includes Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax—pulled in a combined revenue of $7.1 billion in the last quarter, trumping the revenue brought in by Windows for the first time. Those numbers are tempting and will surely spur Microsoft to try to infuse gaming into its other portfolios.
What we have noticed is that when platforms try to diversify into what they are not primarily known for, users usually resist the change. Back in 2021 Netflix launched its gaming service and has invested millions of dollars into it. However, it is still not profitable as of the end of 2023.
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Likewise, Facebook at some point doubled down on gaming and became one of the biggest drivers of social gaming. However, it has not seen the success that it hoped for. Back in 2022, Facebook was forced to shut down its standalone gaming app following a decline in usage.
Our biggest guess is that LinkedIn will not be an exception. When people log onto a platform, they already have a preconfigured mind about what that platform is all about and they do just that while they are there. Asking them to try something else is often a tall order. It will take the best marketers to push the idea and make it a success. We will be watching to see how LinkedIn handles this.
