Peloton's in-app Lanebreak video game will give connected bike owners a way to gamify their fitness

Connected exercise giant Peloton is launching an in-app video game that aims to lighten up user’s fitness sessions.

The music-based game - at this stage known as ‘Lanebreak’ - will be available to Peloton Bike and Bike Plus subscribers, with the player tasked with controlling an on-screen wheel and hitting goals by changing speed, resistance and more. 

Various difficulty levels, naturally, will be available to select before jumping into a Lanebreak session, with duration and the genre of music also selectable.

At present, Lanebreak is still in the early access stage, with a members-only beta planned for later this year before a widescale launch in early 2022. When it does, it’s expected to feature three types of challenges and ways of progression.

Pickups allow the user to earn points for as long as they manage to stay in the required lane; Streams focus on cadence in exchange for points; and Breakers, as the name kind of suggests, is all about energy output.

Of course, Lanebreak isn’t the first example we’ve seen of fitness being gamified - Nintendo’s Ring Fit Adventure being a notable recent example - but it is a first for Peloton. And it comes after plenty of trials and pilot mini-games for the company, with the idea to harness the reward and progression system found in gaming and apply it to its own stationary bike.

However, it’s not just actual video games Peloton is competing with here, with dedicated cycling simulator platforms (such as Zwift and Road Grand Tours) also continually working in more ways to keep users engaged. 

"Peloton created Lanebreak to complement instructor-led classes with a fresh new experience for members, giving them more ways to stay engaged and motivated with their workouts,” the company said in a release.

To that point, we expect this kind of thing to act as more of a complement to the wider Peloton ecosystem, rather than a big reason to plump for the platform.

All in all, though, it’s encouraging to see the company trying something different - and we look forward to trying it out later this year.

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