LinkedIn’s adding a new competitive element to its in-app gaming feature, with group leaderboards set to show how you rank on each game in comparison to your LinkedIn connections.
As you can see in this example, LinkedIn is currently alerting games players about the coming leaderboard display, coming next month, which will add another, more personally relevant perspective to its gaming experience.
The new leaderboard will show daily rankings based for each game that you and your connections (who’ve opted in) have played, so you can compete on performance, and discuss gaming strategies. Anybody who plays a game in the app will be shown this pop-up alert in the app over the next week.
To be clear, LinkedIn has offered different versions of its gaming leaderboards since it first launched its in-app gaming options in May last year, displaying comparative performance between members from different companies, schools, etc.
This one is more specifically aligned to your connections, which could be a more valuable and engaging showcase.
If your connections are playing any of the games, that is.
On that front, LinkedIn says that its in-app games have been relatively popular, with “millions” of LinkedIn members now playing its games every day, and 84% of those who do play returning to try again.
I mean, “millions” is clearly a lot, but with a billion total members, and around 400 million active users, it might be only a small percentage of the platform’s total audience that are actually playing these games.
But clearly, LinkedIn believes that it’s worth the investment, with the platform continuing to add new games, and new features like this to enhance its gaming engagement.
So there’s something there, and if it helps LinkedIn continue to post “record levels” of in-app engagement, it’s likely worth the platform continuing to support the option.
It still feels a little out of place for my liking, but sparking competition and engagement among colleagues, and former colleagues, could be another means to connect and expand its broader networking opportunities.
LinkedIn says that it’s launching its updated leaderboards next month.
