LinkedIn is working on broadening its offerings to incorporate gaming features.

The Microsoft-owned company is primarily used by people looking to create a professional network and recruitment. 

The move comes as non-gaming platforms increasingly implementing gaming features to increase user interaction, like the 2022 acquisition of Wordle from The New York Times.

LinkedIn is hoping to implement similar puzzle-based games into its platform to retain and attract users with an engaging gaming experience. 

In a statement to TechCrunch, a LinkedIn spokesperson said: “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.”

Microsoft’s gaming business, which includes Xbox, generated $7.1bn in revenues last quarter. However, it is not clear how involved the gaming division is in the new venture.

Games are the most popular applications for mobile phones and PCs in terms of revenue and user engagement.

The global mobile gaming market will reach $190bn by 2030, up from $124bn in 2023, according to research and analysis company GlobalData’s thematic intelligence mobile gaming report.

Mobile gaming is already bigger than both console and PC gaming combined, according to GlobalData.  

GlobalData principal analyst, Rupantar Guha, stated that despite experiencing some decline in 2021, the mobile gaming market showed significant signs of recovery in 2023 after its total revenue increased 6% compared to 2022.