That’s likely going to put you at a disadvantage without it.
you might be right about that! Nice little race-review here:
https://zwiftinsider.com/zwift-play-race/
if/when they introduce in-game braking, that’ll add yet another layer of strategy. (Also would actually be really handy for things like the team-time-trial, non-race rides, meet-ups etc)
I rarely win races anyway due to lack of sprint power
Well, the Play controllers are very good! Do seem a bit finnicky to connect to my ATV initially, often needing a few power cycles, but once connected are rock solid (no dropouts as of yet). I see there’s a FW update today for them so maybe that’ll help.
Really handy to have access to all functions without taking my hands off the hoods, seems very intuitive especially for PUs in races. Absolute no-brainer to get these for navigating menus too if you have an ATV, 1000% improvement!
The actual steering seems very woolly on the Repack Rush test course. I saw this explained in a comment though that the steering works by selecting a “lane” and then at some point the auto-steering algorithm takes over to keep you on said lane, so it feels like you’re not fully in control!
This works really well in races though! The Zwift Insider guy loves it and has done a couple of race write-ups about it so far. It’s true that you have a massive advantage especially on a course with loads of tight turns like Crit City & at the moment when most people don’t have steering yet (you have a little icon displayed by your name). You take the shortest line and see your guy surge to the front of the pack or even off the front! I’ve seen it said in comments that it cuts a significant amount of distance off the total you have to cover in a race if you do it consistently! Definitely feels like cheating at the moment 😬🤷♂️
the ZI guy also says there’s steering only races (although not many yet) and apparently these are great and make the racing seem really immersive. Hope to try one to tomorrow maybe!
Side note, the e-sports Olympic cycling (on Zwift) is up on YouTube now. Actually quite cool & fun to watch. The first race is an elimination format which looks like a lot of fun, but no word on it coming to Zwift for the masses any time soon which is a shame!
