I’d like to have been within the pitch assembly on this one.

LinkedIn has confirmed that that’s presently engaged on a brand new, in-app video games ingredient, which might allow LinkedIn customers to participate in puzzle video games within the app, with their scores then added to their firm’s efficiency for aggressive company rankings.

As you may see in this example, posted by app researcher Nima Owji, LinkedIn’s presently growing a brand new gaming platform in-stream, which would come with achievements, streaks, rankings, and so on.

LinkedIn’s engaged on three video games, at current: “Queens”, “Crossclimb” and “Inference”.

As you may see in these examples, which LinkedIn provided to TechCrunch, the sport UI will present you what number of of your connections have additionally performed, and the place your organization ranks, so as to encourage participation.

The video games themselves, as famous, are easy, puzzle-type video games, which can even be considered as a strategy to show your corporation’ mental superiority, and you may already think about that some manufacturers will use their LI video games rank to pitch purchasers on their collective genius.

LinkedIn confirmed the mission to TechCrunch, saying that:

“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.”

LinkedIn hasn’t shared any data on public testing, but it surely seems to be coming quickly, with the UI wanting fairly near completed.

So does LinkedIn gaming make sense?

Look, it does appear a bit misplaced, a bit random, and actually, a reasonably blatant effort to spice up time spent within the app.

But additionally, it’s going to in all probability work.

You’ll be able to think about that lots of people will in all probability check out these puzzle video games, and by including aggressive rating, there shall be staff who really feel a dedication to their employer, and a compulsion to participate.

Although how precisely that rating will work stays to be seen. If a enterprise has one worker, for instance, does that imply that no matter rating that worker will get is what ranks, or is the rating diluted based mostly on the variety of workers registered within the app?

Nevertheless it really works, it is sensible for LinkedIn to experiment with video games, and whereas it might appear a bit of bit off-topic, it’ll even be one other ingredient that’ll assist enhance its present “record levels of engagement”.

However does it align with the platform’s broader mission to “connect the world’s professionals to economic opportunity”?