Microsoft Groups now permits you to problem colleagues to a recreation of Minesweeper or Solitaire

With remote or hybrid work going nowhere any time quickly, Microsoft right now introduced new social gaming performance inside its Groups productiveness and collaboration platform.

Obtainable to Groups Enterprise and Schooling subscribers solely, the brand new “Games for Work” app permits colleagues to problem one another to a recreation of Minesweeper, Wordament, Icebreaker and even Solitaire, a traditional card recreation familiar to anyone who has used Home windows from 1990 onwards.

Microsoft mentioned that every recreation — together with Solitaire, which by its very definition is a solo recreation — has a multiplayer choice for as much as 250 gamers, with added help for these solely wishing to spectate. And on condition that the video games are solely accessible for paying Groups subscribers, no adverts are included.

The brand new app was developed by an Xbox Video games Studio known as Microsoft Informal Video games.

Whereas baking video games into what’s ostensibly a enterprise product for most individuals might sound counterintuitive, the logic is sound sufficient: workmates have lengthy engaged in video games socially at work, whether or not it’s desk tennis or a recreation of playing cards throughout lunch. For distant staff, that want to attach and work together competitively is unquestionably nonetheless there.

“Video games promote creativity, collaboration and communication in highly effective and distinctive methods, and we are able to’t wait to see how the Video games for Work app on Microsoft Groups conjures up productiveness and helps foster connections within the office,” famous Jill Braff, normal supervisor of integrations and informal video games at Microsoft, in a blog post.

The Video games for Work app integrates with Groups on desktop and cell, with Microsoft including that it plans to add new video games sooner or later.