Zwift just shared “This Season On Zwift” – a roadmap of upcoming features releasing before the year ends. Their plans include multiplayer gamification for two existing Zwift courses: Crit City and Repack Rush.
Let’s dig into what we know about these Play Beta features…
Play Beta: Crit City Gamification
Zwift is launching an optional gamified event mode for Crit City. When enabled, it will modify the popular race course in a few ways:
- Blue “boost pads” are added – ride over them for a speed boost
- Red hazards are added – ride over them and you’ll slow down
- Riders can navigate the full width of the road
I’m particularly excited about getting to use the full width of the road, as this has been something I’ve asked for since Crit City launched! It’s always seemed silly to only have one lane open on a route that only hosts events. Full lanes should be used all the time in Crit City, and particularly when steering is enabled, so riders have more options when it choosing their lines.
This gamified mode is considered a further evolution of the Zwift Play Beta experience, although any Zwift-compatible steering device can be used.
Here’s a video preview from Zwift:
Play Beta: Repack Rush Multiplayer Mode
Many Zwifters have already ridden the new Repack Rush route with its boost pads, hazards, and time bonuses. But it’s has only been available as a free-ridable route thus far.
Soon, Zwift will launch multiplayer event capabilities on Repack Rush, allowing riders to compete across the route, with the winner being the rider with the shortest overall time after time deductions are factored in.
You’ll need a steering device such as Zwift Play, and you’ll need to make strategic decisions on the fly about steering, braking, and balancing taking the shortest lines while chasing time bonuses.
It’s unclear how the multiplayer events will be scheduled… we’ll just have to wait and see. Here’s a video preview from Zwift:
Random or Regular?
At this point, Repack Rush always uses the same layout of boost pads, hazards, and time bonuses. If Zwift wants to take gamification to the next level, they may need to mix up the layouts so riders can’t memorize the course.
Or perhaps riders should be rewarded for learning the route? What do you think?
When Can We Ride It?
Zwift says gamified Crit City mode and multiplayer Repack Rush are arriving “this fall.”
Share Your Thoughts
What do you think of Zwift’s multiplayer+gamified route plans? Share your thoughts below!
I wish you could chose to ride/ run repack without the gamification. It was such a pretty route
Me personally don’t like this added gamification. It requires users to purchase the steering for $100. One of the main reasons to train indoors is because of convenience and not having to steer. I will steer when I race outside.
As someone who now has a play device, I am firmly of the opinion steering is good. Gamification and boost pads are bad, but steering on Zwift when racing, is a positive step forwards.
I agree with this, and I used Repack Rush to familiarize myself with the controls, which kinda felt like its intended purpose. I doubt I’ll ever sacrifice a workout to race it, but who knows: winter is a long season.
As someone who now has a play device (and I had to jump through hoops to get it since they don’t ship to my country), I am firmly in the opinion of “meh? why do i even want these things?”.
I just don’t understand why they went for ‘lanes + buttons’ instead of smooth steering a surface with a gyro attached to the handlebar. We’re not in the 80s anymore.
The giro (using cell phone) on the bars was the first thing they tried, actually.
Three problems: most people don’t have setups that allow for you to wiggle your bars back and forth easily. Phone giros performed inconsistently. Also—it doesn’t feel natural like you might think… because bike steering is more about leaning than turning the bars.
I find this answer logically unsatisfying. Pushing buttons is if anything less natural then turning bars. If you are shipping hardware to consumers then you can easily ship them a quality giro and a little spin plate. You can also go with the sterzo route of giving people a setup that allows turning easily.
How is adding optional game modes a bad thing? It doesn’t force anyone
agreed!
I just want a Velodrome
I am out of the loop: why the velodrome hype? I would like a velodrome in real life for aero testing but I don’t see the point of a having a velodrome on Zwift?
Dumb.
Another costly gimmick that further distances the haves and the have nots.
Plus, racing around at 4.4w/kg is hard enough without aiming for flashy pads for a boost. Steering is completely unnecessary for this platform.
Please don’t get to the point where e all need stupid steering abilities just to compete.
Super Mario Kart? No please…
Think it’s fun to do different things in Zwift to spice things up. Otherwise it also gets boring.
I was sceptical and had zero interest in steering until I purchased Zwift play. Primarily I bought it to ditch the phone and use it for menu navigation, ride ons etc. which I am really pleased with. I’ve now found myself using steering all the time, not even in races but training in groups, pulling away from a draft and practising re-joining the end of a fast moving pack. I’m all for giving riders another way of making training more engaging indoors and I’m excited to see further gamification enhancements going forward.
I think they’ll be fun additions to try out from time to time. Maybe at some point we’ll even get the chance to deliver newspapers whist avoiding dogs and angry car drivers…
Maybe spend the time and money on improving graphics instead of this rubbish 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
I think Zwift is going to be led to its own demise ultimately by pushing this more towards gaming than serious training, as someone who has over 60k miles on Zwift, I could care less about these gimmicks, road feel, different types of bikes, I would like to see more roads and bot group rides, and roll back pd4.1, what a clusterF that was.
Is there a Campa friendly alternative to Zwift Play?
Hard to see this not going the way of boost mode…
Wow that’s an awesome update! We don’t need Zwift API access, results based ranking, TTT escalators or simple event request forms for event organisers that host awesome community events! Scrap all of that, game boost pads is all we need!
To be honest I think Swift needs to remember that their customers are cyclists.. real cyclist not gamers. We enjoy riding inside but we enjoy the realism of riding inside I think Swift should take more of a lean as a bike simulator simulating events that cyclists can’t do in real life like the pros can giving everybody the option to ride in the environment of a pro. Velodrome are part of that hill climbs are part of that time trials are part of that group time trials are part of that 20 minute descents are part of that like… Read more »
Looks like fun to me, if you don’t like it you don’t have to use it, but I’ll give it a try (once we can steer).