Microsoft-owned social and networking platform LinkedIn is dipping its toes into the world of gaming as it plans to add gaming to the popular professional recruitment platform.
According to TechCrunch, LinkedIn is currently developing a new gaming experience, drawing inspiration from the puzzle craze that propelled games like Wordle to fame and attracted millions of players. Among the first projects are games titled "Queens," "Inference," and "Crossclimb."
Puzzle-based games
“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,” one spokesperson told TechCrunch. “Stay tuned for more!”
App researcher Nima Owji took to X (formerly Twitter) to share that one idea LinkedIn appears to be experimenting with involves organising player scores and that “companies will be ranked in the games based on the scores of their employees!”
With over a billion users, LinkedIn is now working on retaining and bringing more users by gamifying the jobs platform in a time when the games industry - despite so many layoffs - continues to thrive in revenue and player counts.
Is Microsoft actively involved?
Although the spokesperson did not say whether Microsoft is involved in LinkedIn's gaming ambitions, the Xbox parent company remains a behemoth in the gaming realm especially after its acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.
Games consistently rank among the top-performing apps for mobile phones and PCs, both in terms of revenue and user engagement. Within the mobile space, puzzle-based casual games stand out as one of the most popular categories among users.
In 2022, The New York Times acauired the viral sensation Wordle. At the end of 2023, the newspaper reported that millions of players continue to engage with the game, now integrated into a larger platform of online puzzles and games offered by the publication.
Currently, LinkedIn's active users span over 200 countries. Each week, around 65 million job seekers utilize the platform, while employers in over 230 countries depend on LinkedIn Talent Solutions for their sourcing and recruitment needs.
