Your conference calls could soon get a little more distracting if rumors of a new addition to Microsoft Teams are confirmed.
The video conferencing platform apparently plans to bring several games to Microsoft Teams in what appears to be an effort to help boost employee morale.
Sources counted On the edge (opens in new tab) that several Windows classics are among the suggested games, including games like Solitaire.
Microsoft Teams Games
Several titles from the company’s Casual Games platform are expected to be part of the move, so it’s not like Microsoft is encouraging workers to launch large-scale gaming sessions during working hours.
Instead, it looks like the plan is more to help kill a few minutes, for example if you’re waiting for someone to get on the call, with a quick game of Connect 4 (another title set to be included).
Microsoft declined to comment on the rumor when asked by On the edgewith a similar request from Pro also remains unanswered.
However, such a move would make sense, as the company has been pushing to make using Microsoft Teams seem less work in recent months.
Several updates have sought to make using Teams more enjoyable, including multiple generations of avatars to represent you on a call using Together Mode, which displays a live avatar for each participant.
Avatars can wave, tap each other on the shoulder and even greet, and seek to help address concerns about video call participants who often appear disengaged, showing real emotions and facial expressions.
The company also outlined plans to introduce 3D avatars soon, along with more immersive Microsoft Teams meetings within the so-called “metaverse” in late 2022.
This is despite some senior Microsoft figures expressing concerns about the security of the metaverse, with Charlie Bell, the company’s executive vice president of security, compliance, identity and management, recently noting that the metaverse, like all other quantum leaps in technology, brings with it several fraudsters and criminals