Gamifying Exercise: Weighing in on the Risks of eSports Cycling

With the rapid rise in interest in esports cycling, this talk discusses the potential risks of gamifying exercise by examining one of the largest virtual cycling communities. On Zwift, a massively multiplayer online game with over 1 million members, cyclists ride a bicycle on an indoor trainer that translates power into movement with a formula based on the player’s power and weight. Zwift gamifies cycling by not only making it into a video game where players can ride throughout its virtual worlds, but also by motivating players through competitive events, challenges, and achievements that earn players badges, cosmetic game items, in-game currency, and bragging rights. In 2026, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services raised concerns about the province seeing an increase in the number of cases of rhabdomylosis, a condition in which damaged skeletal muscle breaks down rapidly, releasing harmful proteins and electrolytes into the bloodstream and an illness that has been associated with indoor spin cycling classes; it is in this context that this talk explores the potential risk of injury and disordered eating in a weight-sensitive sport that takes place unsupervised in virtual worlds.

 

Dr. Sarah Thorne is an Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Memorial University, where she teaches courses on critical media theory, video games, and AI. She is a game studies scholar and an avid cyclist (both in the real world and virtually).

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Location: Via Zoom

Date and Time: Thursday, Oct. 1 at 12:30 PM - 02:00 PM (NDT)

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