LinkedIn Expands Into Gaming: Launches 3 New Logic Puzzles
- Written by Shipra Sanganeria Cybersecurity & Tech Writer
- Fact-Checked by
LinkedIn has officially entered the world of gaming with the launch of three free “thinking-oriented” games on its platform. The logic puzzles – Pinpoint, Queens, and Crossclimb — can be found under the “News” and “My Network” tabs of LinkedIn profiles on desktop and mobile.
The Microsoft-owned professional networking site was first spotted testing games on its platform in March 2024. “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,” a LinkedIn spokesperson confirmed in a statement to Techcrunch .
Rolled out globally on May 1 , the company is initially starting out with three Wordle -style games. The first, Pinpoint is a simple word association game, where players must guess the common category that the 5 words belong to.
The second game, Queens , is a time-based logic puzzle that shares similarities with Sudoku but doesn’t use numbers. Here a player has to place a queen emoji in every row, column, and region, without touching one another.
The third puzzle, Crossclimb , is a trivia game that is “a combination of a crossword and a word ladder.” Players guess a list of words based on a set of clues, then rearrange the words to unlock the final (more difficult) clue to win the game.
For now, these games can be played once per day and scores can be shared to users’ personal LinkedIn networks. Leaderboards can also be accessed to check rankings and high scores and to engage in conversations related to the games with the wider LinkedIn community.
According to Lakshman Somasundaram , LinkedIn’s product director, “It’s time we turn over a new leaf in how we deepen and reignite relationships at work, and put fun at the heart of it.”
LinkedIn is not the first company to use gaming to refresh and boost user engagement. For instance, with the 2022 acquisition of Wordle, The New York Times reportedly saw tens of millions of new players across its games and puzzle section.
- Written by Shipra Sanganeria Cybersecurity & Tech Writer
Most recently, Microsoft announced its new investment initiatives in Malaysia ($2.2 billion by 2028) and Indonesia ($1.7 billion by 2028) . The investments aim to help develop cloud and AI infrastructure as well as create AI skilling opportunities in both the countries.
Moreover, Microsoft will partner with the Malaysian government to build a national AI Centre of Excellence, as well as boost the nation’s cybersecurity capabilities.
Supporting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) aim of boosting its digital economy to $2.7 trillion by 2030 under the Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) , the tech giants have pledged multi-billion-dollar investments in the area.
Following close on the heels of its competitor, Microsoft announced several key investments in this region. Earlier, in April 2024, the company announced a $2.9 billion AI and cloud infrastructure investment in Japan .
To support these expansion plans and boost demand for its generating AI technologies, Microsoft, on April 30, also revealed its plans to provide AI skilling opportunities to 2.5 million people in the ASEAN region by 2025 . The countries that will largely benefit from the program include Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
