Zwift CEO Eric Min guests on the Zwiftcast on Episode 90 to discuss some of the big changes that 2020 has brought to the platform.
In an interview which is focused on this tumultuous year and on the consequences of the big new fund raise, Eric explains some company thinking.
A flood of new users as the pandemic hit has caused Zwift to accelerate its plans to simplify the platform for new users. Simon grills Eric on what the consequences of this policy may be for existing users.
Eric also discusses the decision to place Rowing on pause and his thinking around pricing. Eric also talks about what new investor Ilkkaa Paanen, the CEO of games company Supercell, will bring to Zwift.
Simon, Shane and Nathan reflect on Eric’s thoughts and speculate on how the new thinking may be implemented.
Elsewhere there’s an interview with Zwift’s Jacob Fraser talking about the new Zwift Racing League.
Oh, and swooping Australian magpies!
We hope you enjoy listening.
I’m very disappointed by this. I own a development company, and am shocked to hear how minimal the much-anticipated (but now abandoned) UI update was. To have taken in so much money and then to have completely abandoned promised updates is incredibly disappointing (and fairly inexplicable). All of this could be mitigated if Zwift would be more communicative and say, publish a development roadmap. Also, it’s infuriating to hear Eric hand-wave away the lack of improvements by saying they’re going to focus on systems, and then in the next sentence say that PacerBots were implemented and could become a system.… Read more »
Ian, I am with you on that – this company is absolutely terrible in terms of communicating and managing expectations of their community. Hope investors also understand that and can find a more experienced CEO
Being part of the development world you should all ready know that innovation is brought on by competition and motivation. Presently Zwift has zero incentive to innovate due to a lack of true competition. This is very short sighted as it leads to an unsatisfied userbase yearning for something better, see Microsoft prior to Windows 10 as a reference point. With that said, I am waiting for a competitor integrated with the Unreal game and graphics engine to take me away from Zwift.
This. I can’t remember a single other software product I’ve used where the quality (or rather lack thereof) of the software development process would have been this clearly visible to the end user. TBH I was also a bit disappointed by the interview on this point, maybe bring GPLama along the next time to ask the tough questions…?
They need to get a robust Club setup quickly to create community in Zwift. The UI needs to get sorted sooner rather than later as well. Most of what the user needs before or after a ride are only available while you are in a ride. It is backwards. Bring seeing badges,avatar setup etc.before the ride interface and most of their UI issues go away. Overall I have ben disappointed in Zwifts slow progress this past year and would like to see the basics get sorted for all users.
I was extremely disappointed after listening to the podcast. I have only been using Zwift a few months and love it, but am frustrated by many issues that I see have been raised constantly and subsequently ignored. It seems like new funding means the focus is now very much on achieving mass market adoption, i.e. improve cash flow to validate a high valuation. I thought Eric dodged the question about servicing existing users by just saying he is one himself. My assumption is that all the issues and requests made will continue to be ignored as they focus on supporting… Read more »
I started on Zwift 3 years ago. Thought it was awesome then. It’s better now so find it difficult to think it that I need even more to be happier with it. I think some people just want to have endless roads, unending climbs and limitless bells and whistles. Even if someone got everything they wanted they’d want something more. Reminds me of all the complaints about slow wifi on an airplane. I will just celebrate the 90-95% amazing and let others whine about the 5-10% they will always want even when their needs are met.