Using Microsoft Teams could actually get quite fun soon

Games are coming to Microsoft Teams at last

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Your conference calls could soon get a touch more distracting if rumors of a new addition toMicrosoft Teamsprove true.

Thevideo conferencingplatform is apparently planning to bring a number of games toMicrosoftTeams in what appears to be an effort to help boost employee morale.

Sources toldThe Vergethat a number of Windows classics are among the games being suggested, including the likes of Solitaire.

Microsoft Teams games

Several titles from the company’s Casual Games platform are set to be part of the move, so it’s not like Microsoft is encouraging workers to launch full-scale gaming sessions during work hours.

Instead, it seems that the plan is more to help kill a few minutes, for example if you’re waiting for someone to join the call, with a quick game of Connect 4 (another title set to be included).

Microsoft refused to comment on the rumour when asked byThe Verge, with a similar request fromTechRadar Proalso going as yet unanswered.

Zoom’s new animated avatars are the stuff of nightmares>How to set up a Microsoft Teams meeting>Microsoft Teams update will finally eliminate this unnecessary headache

However such a move would make sense, as the company has been pushing to make using Microsoft Teams seem like less of a chore in recent months.

Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!

A number of updates have looked to make using Teams more pleasant, including several generations of avatars to represent you on a call using itsTogether Mode, which displays a live avatar for each participant.

Avatars can wave, tap each other on the shoulder and even high-five, and look to help address concerns about video call participants often seeming unengaged by showing actual emotions and facial expressions.

The company has also outlined plans to introduce 3D avatars soon alongside more immersive Microsoft Teams meetings within the so-called “metaverse” later in 2022.

This is despite some senior Microsoft figures expressingworries about the security of the metaverse, with Charlie Bell, the company’s Executive Vice President for Security, Compliance, Identity, and Management, recently noting that the metaverse, much like all other quantum leaps in technology, brings with it various fraudsters and criminals

Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK’s leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he’s not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.

7 myths about email security everyone should stop believing

Best Usenet client of 2024

NYT Strands today — hints, answers and spangram for Sunday, November 10 (game #252)