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Teams is one of the most used online collaboration and tools in organizations and Microsoft regularly keeps updating it with new features to retain existing customers and attract new ones. Background noise suppression for Teams on macOS just arrived last week and just a couple of days ago, we learned that Teams now offers voice quality improvements through artificial intelligence too.
Now, a report claims that Microsoft is looking to integrate one of the most needed features in its collaboration app, and that is... games. You read that right.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the topic, The Verge reports that Microsoft is working on bringing casual games to Teams. These include titles like Wordament, Solitaire, and Connect 4.
Although Microsoft has not confirmed that this integration with its Casual Games offering will ever roll out publicly, the idea behind the move is to allow people to play against each other during meetings. It is likely intended as a way to take a break from the regular workflow and allow employees to engage with each other in more relaxed environments.
Many workplaces and teams offer some sort of recreational activities - including casual games - for this purpose, but those have become difficult to manage under the current hybrid working conditions. Casual games in Teams could be Microsoft"s answer to this problem.
The report also claims that Microsoft is exploring its idea of the metaverse to create virtual spaces in Teams where employees can better socialize with each other. This concept was pitched last year through Microsoft Mesh for Teams.
That said, it is important to note that these are just some of the areas that Microsoft is exploring internally. There"s no knowing yet if they will ever materialize publicly, we"ll likely know for sure in the coming weeks and months.
Source: The Verge