Using Microsoft Teams could actually get quite fun soon

Your conference calls could soon get a touch more distracting if rumors of a new addition to Microsoft Teams prove true. 

The video conferencing platform is apparently planning to bring a number of games to Microsoft Teams in what appears to be an effort to help boost employee morale.

Sources told The Verge (opens in new tab) that 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 by The Verge, with a similar request from TechRadar Pro also going as yet unanswered.

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.

A number of updates have looked to make using Teams more pleasant, including several generations of avatars to represent you on a call using its Together 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 expressing worries 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