• by Colin Kirkland , Yesterday

As Threads continues to grow, Meta’s Twitter-like mobile messaging app is experimenting with a gaming feature directly in chats, prompting users to shoot hoops by swiping their finger on the screen. 

According to a screenshot posted on X by app researcher Alessandro Paluzzi, Threads is testing a basketball game for its mobile format, inviting users to play a low-stakes virtual basketball game in which they compete to see who can score the most baskets. 

The game, which has a vintage pixelated aesthetic, is rooted in the app’s chat features, building off the growing popularity of direct messaging across Meta’s family of social media platforms and other message-based apps such as Reddit, especially among younger consumers. 

Last week, Instagram head Adam Mosseri stated in a Threads post that “feed is dead,” adding that “the primary way people share, even photos and videos, is in DMs.” 

Instagram launched a game within its DMs feature last year, where users are invited to move their finger across the screen to keep emojis suspended in the air, bringing a similar level of user competition and approach as the new Threads basketball game.

Gaming is proven to enhance engagement among consumers -- which is why major social media apps, streaming platforms, and brands are continuing to develop their own gamified initiatives, including Netflix, YouTube, Reddit, Samsung, Amazon Prime Video, and others.

Threads may also be testing a gaming feature in order to set it apart from X, a direct competitor that still leads in overall monthly users. Currently, X has no in-app gaming options. 

Meta has yet to make any official announcements regarding the Threads game, nor whether the company is developing other games for the messaging platform.