CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- VirZOOM, maker of VirZOOM Arcade virtual reality games, held the first ever live vSports competition at a private CES event sponsored by AMD, Fitbit, HTC and Life Fitness.  vSports is real, physical competition in multiplayer virtual reality games.  Users compete in vSports games on VirZOOM VR Bikes playing a suite of evolving VirZOOM Arcade games.  Pedaling and leaning propel you through racetracks, battlegrounds, soaring skies, and countryside worlds in VirZOOM Arcade,  an ever-expanding collection of vSports games designed by award winning game developer veterans that combine strategy, coordination, and fitness.

Compete in VirZOOM vSports with HTC Vive at Locations Around the U.S.

VirZOOM announced they are collaborating with vSports Centers around the United States to host a public nationwide vSports tournament in early 2017 where players can compete for prizes.  vSports Centers will demonstrate VirZOOM, host competitions and resell vSports systems. In the future, VirZOOM customers will also be able to compete and stream vSports competitions from home. 

"VirZOOM vSports is a critical component to building out the ever-growing Vive ecosystem," said Dan O'Brien, VP Virtual Reality, HTC VIVE. "We built Vive to deliver the most immersive VR experience on the market today. Companies like VirZOOM help us meet this vision and we're excited to see what vSports offers to the motivating factors in a VR experience."

Initial vSports Centers locations include: eBash gaming center (IND), Game Haven (CT), Game Republik (TX), Game Tyrant (UT), LAN Mob Gaming Center (NY), Newton Gaming Center (MA), Novastar Gaming Center (KS), Section 9 Cyber Café (ND), Sphere Arcade (OH), UCI eSports Arena (CA), Virtual World Arcade (CA), VR Junkies (Orem/West Valley UT, NM, NY, MN), and Wyandotte Athletic Club (OH).

Capture Your vSports Rides with Fitbit

VirZOOM also announced an integration with Fitbit, the leader in the connected health and fitness market, through the Works with Fitbit® program. By collaborating with Fitbit, VirZOOM is offering a gamified, multiplayer VR fitness experience that gives you a fun and motivating approach to help you reach your fitness goals, giving you credit for your VR bike ride directly in your Fitbit app. As you pedal on your VirZOOM VR Bike in the real world, you are propelled through a virtual world as a F1 driver, tank commander, Pegasus and more—all while getting in your exercise. Each workout will be logged as an exercise in the Fitbit app and will include workout duration, distance pedaled and calories burned. If you wear a Fitbit device that tracks heart rate during your VirZOOM session, such as Fitbit Charge 2™, your Fitbit heart rate data will also be captured in your exercise log in the Fitbit app. VirZOOM and Fitbit also plan to collaborate on more ways to seamlessly integrate future service and products to continue to make fitness fun and engaging.  

"At Fitbit, we are focused on constantly innovating and partnering with brands like VirZOOM that want to break down boundaries and find fun and engaging ways to  help users reach their exercise goals," said Tim Rosa, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer at Fitbit. "We've seen a direct correlation between gamification of fitness and the motivation it provides our users. We believe we'll see even more VR games incentivize and reward consumers for healthy behavior, reinforcing the link between activity and gaming performance."

VR Enters the Gym: VirZOOM and Life Fitness Announce Partnership

VirZOOM also announced a partnership with Life Fitness, the leading provider of commercial fitness equipment.  VirZOOM and Life Fitness have entered a co-marketing and pilot partnership to launch the VirZOOM Module which  transforms existing Life Fitness Platinum Club Series and Elevator Series Discover SE3 bike models into Virtual Reality bikes compatible with VirZOOM Arcade. The VirZOOM Module allows VirZOOM software to access data from Life Fitness bikes such as pedal speed, resistance buttons and heart rate to enable VirZOOM gameplay. Pilots integrating the VirZOOM module will take place globally in commercial fitness facilities beginning in Q1 2017.

"Introducing virtual reality to our Life Fitness equipment is an exciting step in the evolution of providing completely immersive and customizable experiences to workouts," said Amad Amin, product director of digital experience at Life Fitness. "Our pilot partnership with VirZOOM allows the exerciser to partake in the escapism of Virtual Reality while having an interactive workout on our bikes with Discover SE3 consoles. We aim to continue enhancing our immersive experience, and this VR solution with VirZOOM will allow us to bring that value to our customers."

About VirZOOM

VirZOOM Arcade is free to download on PlayStation Network and Steam for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive use with the VirZOOM Bike Controller, available via leading retailers for $399.95 in North America.

Play VR and Get Fit with VirZOOM.

Co-founded by CEO Eric Janszen and CTO Eric Malafeew in February 2015 and headquartered in Cambridge, MA. VirZOOM is compatible with Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Playstation VR headsets (VR headset sold separately).

SOURCE VirZOOM