Watt Fighters support
Getting started
How do I ride my first race?
- Open wattfighters.com in Chrome or Edge, on a computer near your bike.
- Press Race here. Sign in, or make a guest rider.
- Under Power from, choose how the game gets your power: Bluetooth for a power meter or a smart trainer, or Couch to race without the bike.
- Choose a race and press Ride.
The start screen. Race here is for racing on this device.
Before the race: your rider on the left, with Bluetooth or Couch under Power from. The races are on the right, and the Ride button is at the bottom.Your first races are against bots: riders the computer rides. Every race teaches the game how strong you are.
Not sure which race to choose? See which race to try first.
Do I need an account?
No. A guest rider races without an account. The guest rider is saved on this device only.
With an account, your rider and your rides are saved online. You can sign in on any device and get them back.
You need an account to race people in other homes, to join a club and to be in the standings.
See how to make an account.
Is one bike faster than another?
No. Every bike in the game is just as fast.
On Watt Fighters, your legs make the difference, not your bike. The rider who pushes the most power and races the smartest wins.
The bikes are the Sprocketti Zebra, the Zappington Eel, the Buzzworth Honeybee, the Gloomwick Jackdaw and the Frostwick Polar Bear. You pick yours on the Settings tab of your profile. Pick the one you like the look of.
Bikes open as you move up the categories. Every rider has the Sprocketti Zebra. The Zappington Eel and the Buzzworth Honeybee open in Cat 3, and the next bikes are for Cat 2 and up. You earn them in races: they are never sold. You keep a bike if you move down a category.
Each bike is set up for your height, the way a bike fitter would do it. That changes how you look on the bike. It doesn’t change how fast you go.
We might change this one day. A bike could then be a little quicker in a sprint and a little slower in a long race, like real track bikes. Your legs would still make the difference. If we change it, this page will say so.
Would you like that? Tell us what you think.
How do I change what my rider wears?
Open the Settings tab of your profile and find your rider’s kit. Pick a colour, then pick a design. Your rider wears that kit in every 3D race, and other riders see it in online races.
In Cat 5 you pick the colour, and the kit has the design that goes with it. Every design opens in Cat 4, after your first 5 races.
The Watt Fighters design is the team kit. It is black, with the big yellow bolt and the red ring from the Watt Fighters logo. A red rider wears it in red, and a white rider wears it in white.
Your colour still marks your rider in a race, whichever kit you pick.
Can I change my rider’s skin colour?
Yes. Open the Settings tab of your profile and find Skin colour, under Gender. There are six colours, from very light to dark brown. Tap the one you want.
Your rider has that skin colour in every 3D race. Other riders see it in online races too.
If you made your own 3D rider from your photos, that rider keeps the skin from your photos.
Can my rider look like me?
Yes. Open the Settings tab of your profile and find My 3D rider. You need to be signed in.
Take four photos of yourself: from the front, the back, the left and the right. Stand on your own, with your whole body in the photo. Wear tight clothes. Your 3D rider wears what you wear in the photos, so put on a helmet or sunglasses only if you want to race in them. Someone else can hold the phone.
The game checks the photos first. If one won’t work, it says which one and what to change, and you don’t use a try.
Then the game builds your 3D rider in your racing suit. It takes about ten minutes, and the bell tells you when it’s ready. Tap your 3D rider in your profile to see it bigger, and drag it to turn it round. You choose whether to race as it. You can go back to the game’s rider at any time.
You get 3 tries in your first month, then 1 new try each month. A try that doesn’t work is given back.
Your photos go to Tripo, a company in Hong Kong that builds the 3D rider. Tripo doesn’t use your photos to teach its computers. Tripo may keep your photos and your 3D rider, and we can’t make Tripo delete them. We delete our copy of the photos when your 3D rider is made.
Riders younger than 16 need a parent’s yes for each try. If no parent is on your list yet, type your parent’s email address on the My 3D rider page. The game emails the parents a link to see the photos and say yes or no. Nothing is made until a parent says yes. As soon as a parent says yes, the game starts making your 3D rider, and the bell tells you.
A parent can also say you may make a 3D rider without asking each time. Then the game starts at once, and it emails your parents each time so they can see it.
Other riders see your 3D rider in online races. If your internet is slow, turn off Show other riders’ 3D riders under My 3D rider: everyone else then races as the game’s riders.
Every 3D rider is kept in three sizes. The apps show the most detailed one. A browser on a computer shows a lighter one, and a phone the lightest. If a race starts to stutter, the game swaps 3D riders for a lighter size until it runs smoothly again.
What gear does my bike have?
Every bike in the game is a track bike with one gear, like the bikes on a real velodrome. The pedals turn whenever the wheels turn.
The game picks your gear for each race from your power. A stronger rider gets a bigger gear. A sprint gets a bigger gear than a points race, and a long time trial gets a smaller one.
A big gear is slow to get going, but it is fast at top speed. A small gear gets going quickly, but at top speed your legs spin too fast to go any faster.
The AI riders get their gear the same way.
If you ride with a cadence sensor, or a power meter that sends cadence, your rider’s legs turn as fast as yours. Without one, the game works it out from your speed and your gear.
If you race from the couch, the gear also decides how much power you have at each speed. If you ride with a power meter, your real power counts as it is.
With Resistance Mode on a smart trainer, you pick your own gear before each race.
What is Resistance Mode?
Resistance Mode makes your smart trainer feel like a track bike. The game tells the trainer how heavy to make the pedals, many times a second.
- Riding in someone’s draft makes the pedals lighter.
- Riding up the banking makes them heavier, and diving down it makes them lighter. A climb up the banking is as heavy as a hill of the same steepness on a real bike, so a heavier rider feels it more.
- Where you ride on the banking counts. Riding high, your line climbs into each bend and drops out of it, so the pedals get heavier into the bend and lighter out of it. At the bottom of the track they hardly change.
- Going fast round a bend presses your tyres into the boards, which makes the pedals a little heavier.
- Your gear changes how they feel. A big gear is heavy and turns slowly. A small gear is light and spins fast.
- Starting from a standstill is heavy, and heavier in a big gear, as on a real track bike.
It works with most smart trainers that connect over Bluetooth. Open Sensors, connect your trainer, and turn on Resistance Mode under the sensors. If the switch isn’t there, your trainer can’t take commands from the game. In the desktop app, choose Bluetooth under Power from: the power bridge can’t send commands to a trainer yet.
Before each race, the game shows your gear for that race, and one press races on it. The first time, the game picks the gear for your power. Press Change to pick another one. The game remembers your gear for each kind of race, so your keirin gear can be different from your scratch race gear. Your gears stay with your account, so they are the same on any computer.
Online races use the gear you picked for that kind of race, or the gear for your power if you haven’t picked one yet.
This is the gear of your bike in the game. On your trainer, put your own bike in the big chainring and a middle cog, and don’t change gear during the race.
Your gear and Resistance Mode never change how fast you go. Your speed comes from your watts, the same as for every other rider. Without Resistance Mode you see the draft and the banking on the screen, and you ease off by feel.
During the race, the Trainer card under your watts shows how heavy the pedals are now. The big number is the hill your trainer is set to, and the bar goes from light to heavy, with a line where it is flat. Under it, the card says why: up or down the banking, in the draft, in the wind, or getting up to speed. The watts on the right are what the pedals take now at your cadence.
If the trainer loses its connection in a race, the rest of that race is like riding without Resistance Mode. Your speed doesn’t change. The next race uses Resistance Mode again.
If you are out of a race, for example eliminated, your trainer goes flat until the race ends.
Close other training apps before you race, so the game is the only app that tells the trainer what to do. The game turns off the trainer’s ERG mode while you race, and makes the trainer flat again after the race.
Do my height and weight change how fast I go?
Yes, once you type them on your profile. A taller or heavier rider pushes more air out of the way, so they need more watts to go as fast as a smaller rider.
A lighter rider speeds up quicker when the race speeds up.
A bigger rider needs fewer watts for each kilo they weigh. A rider of 95 kg keeps up with a rider of 75 kg on about 10% more watts, not 27% more.
In a race with a handicap, the game evens out size as well as power, so riders of every size can win. Category races have no handicap.
Riding close behind another rider shelters you from the wind:
- Right behind one rider, you save almost half the effort of pushing the air.
- Behind two riders in a line, you save a little more.
- A bigger rider in front shelters you more than a smaller one.
- The shelter fades fast as the gap grows. Two metres back it is half as much, and ten metres back it is gone.
Can riders crash?
Yes, if you want them to. The Crashes slider in the lobby sets who can fall. When you make a session, on this device or online, the slider sets it for every race in the session, for everyone who rides it. The session’s page says what it is. In the lobby, tap the ⓘ beside Crashes to read what each choice does. The Bots slider and the others have an ⓘ too.
No crashes: nobody ever falls. Riders still can’t ride through each other.
Only you crash: this is where the slider starts. You can fall, but only by your own mistake, like moving your front wheel into the back wheel of the rider in front, or stopping on the steep banking. You never bring anyone else down. While you’re down, you show see-through.
Real crashes: anyone can fall. A rider who moves across another rider’s front wheel brings that rider down, and a rider who rides into a crash on the boards falls too.
When a rider falls, the judges follow the real track rules, and the announcer tells you what happens as it happens.
In the scratch race, the points race, the unknown distance and the elimination, the rider who fell is neutralised: they get back on the bike and come back into the race in the same place, without losing a lap. Nobody is knocked out of an elimination while a rider is down. In the last kilometre there’s no neutralising, so a rider who falls there is out of the race. In an elimination the same goes once only four riders are left. If more than half the riders are down, the race is stopped, and it starts again with everyone together.
In the match sprint, the judges stop the heat and it starts again from the line. The rider who caused the fall must lead out. A rider who causes a fall in the final sprint is relegated, and the other rider wins the heat.
In the keirin, a fall before the derny pulls off stops the race, and it starts again from the start. After the derny has gone the race goes on, the rider who fell is out, and the rider who caused it is disqualified.
In the time trial and the flying 200 m, a rider who falls gets one more start. A second fall ends the ride with no time.
A rider who causes a crash gets a warning. A second crash, and that rider is disqualified.
What is TV mode?
TV mode shows the race the way it looks on television. The game picks the camera for you and changes it every few seconds, like the director of a TV show does. It is the first camera button under the race, and you can also press C until it comes up. Anyone who is only watching an online race starts on TV mode.
The cameras stand where they would at a real velodrome: high in the stands at the finish line, up on a platform in the middle of the infield, above the fence where each bend ends, and high in the stands at each bend. Other cameras ride along beside a rider, behind them, high above them, or look through their eyes.
The cameras zoom in and out on their own. Sometimes you see one rider up close, and sometimes the whole group they ride in.
When the announcer talks about a rider, the camera shows that rider. When a rider attacks, the camera goes to them and the rider chasing them. When a rider crashes, the camera shows them too. On the last lap the cameras stay close to the front riders, and the finish is shown from the finish line. In an elimination race, you see the last riders sprint to the line.
The picture never changes more often than every 3 seconds, except for a crash or the finish.
In TV mode the announcer sounds like a TV commentator talking into a microphone. You hear every word clearly, wherever the camera is. With the other cameras, the announcer’s voice comes from the velodrome’s loudspeakers.
TV mode follows the leader, or the rider you picked in the Follow list. When you are racing, it follows you.
How do I make the game fill the screen?
During a race, press Full screen next to the camera buttons. The race then fills the whole screen. Press Esc to go back, and the race goes on.
The Watt Fighters app for Windows always fills the screen when it starts, like other games do. To put it in a window, press F11 or Alt+Enter, or open the gear at the top and switch off Full screen. Press them again to fill the screen. The game remembers your choice, and the window’s size and place, for the next time.
In Chrome or Edge, F11 makes the whole page fill the screen.
Can I practise one moment of a race?
Yes. In the points race, the scratch race and the unknown distance, choose a moment under Start the race with. The race starts right at it, with no neutral lap, and you’re in the bunch:
- A break: three riders are up the road. Do you chase, or wait for others to?
- A break and a chase: three up the road, and three more chasing them.
- The rider on the front eases off: do you come round, or wait?
- The rider on the front rides too slowly: come round, or sit and save your legs?
In the match sprint on your own, choose under Start the heat with: you lead out every heat, or the Statue leads every heat and slows right down.
Press Race again for the next one. It works best from the couch, ten in a row.
Can I race against myself?
Yes, in the match sprint. Race here, pick one rider and the match sprint, then choose Your twin instead of the bot. Your twin rides with your own legs: your FTP, your sprint and your one-minute power. It jumps for the line where you usually jump, from your last match sprints on a power meter. Until it has seen you race one, it jumps like most riders.
With the same legs, only the tactics decide it. From the couch it’s pure practice. On your bike it shows whether you raced better than you usually do.
Your twin can ride in the bunch races too. Choose With your twin above the bots, and it takes one bot’s place in the field.
What does Coach Mac say after a race?
When you lose a race on this device and he sees why, Coach Mac tells you on the results. He doesn’t come when there’s nothing to learn, or after a win.
- Too early: your legs ran out before the line, and riders came past. He says from how far out you’d have made it.
- Legs left: you crossed the line with a lot left in your legs, or never really sprinted. He says from how far out you could have gone.
- At the bell: you were too far back when the last lap began.
- On the front: you spent a long time in the wind before the bell, and it cost you your legs.
- In the match sprint: the other rider jumped first, and you were slow to go after them.
He gives you one thing to try in the next race. Press Watch the moment to see it in the replay. If you make the same mistake race after race, he tells you that too.
Can I watch a race again?
Yes. After a race, press Watch again on the results. The race plays again in 3D, from any camera you pick, with the crowd and the announcer.
- Press Play or Space to start and stop it.
- Drag the bar to go to any moment in the race. The arrow keys jump 5 seconds.
- Pick ½×, 1×, 2× or 4× to watch it slower or faster. You hear the crowd and the announcer only at 1×.
- A replay always starts in TV mode, which shows the race the way television does. Pick another camera, or a rider in the Follow list, to watch it your way. F follows the next rider.
- At the end of the race, the results show over it. The first three stand on the podium, and everyone after them is listed below.
- Press ✕ Close or Escape to go back to the results.
You can post a race on Instagram or Facebook. In the replay, press Make a video to share. The game makes an upright video with the crowd and the announcer. It shows the two most exciting moments of the race, then the finish, then the results. A short race is shown whole. Making it can take a minute or two, so keep the window open.
- On a phone or a tablet, press Share to Instagram or Facebook, and pick the app. The words to post with it are copied for you, so paste them in as the caption.
- On a computer, press Save the video. Then open Instagram or Facebook, make a new post or Reel, and pick the video from your Downloads folder.
- Instagram takes only MP4 videos. The game makes MP4 in Chrome, Edge, Safari and the Watt Fighters app, and in most other browsers too. A browser that can’t make MP4 makes WebM, and the screen says so. Then make the video in another browser to post it on Instagram.
- In the Android app, Share opens the list of apps, and Save the video puts it in your Downloads folder. An older copy of the app can’t do this, so install the newest one.
When you are signed in, the game keeps a replay of every race you finish, on this device and online, for 30 days. You find them in the Replays box on the Rides page. After 30 days the game deletes them. You can delete one sooner there.
A guest’s race isn’t kept. A guest can still watch it again from the results.
A replay shows a race the game drew in 3D. A race in 2D has no replay.
Accounts and signing in
How do I make an account?
You make an account the first time you sign in. The Sign in box says Sign in or make an account, and the same buttons do both. There is no separate form and no password.
- Press Sign in at the top right of the start screen.
- Type your email address and press Email me a code.
- The game sends you a code of 6 digits. Type it in, or press the link in the email. After 30 seconds you can ask for a new code.
- A new account then asks for your rider’s name and FTP, in the same box.
The Sign in box. You type your email address, and the game emails you a code.You can press Continue with Google or Continue with Apple instead. A small window opens over the game for you to sign in. It closes by itself when you are done, and the game stays where it was.
If the small window doesn’t open, your browser may be blocking pop-up windows. Then the whole page goes to Google or Apple and comes back to the game when you are signed in.
In the iPhone and iPad app, Continue with Apple uses Face ID, with no web page. Google and the email open a page from wattfighters.com over the game. It closes by itself when you are done.
If you raced as a guest first, you can bring that guest rider and their races into your new account.
An account saves your email, your rider and your rides. Nobody else can see them.
What if the sign-in email doesn’t come?
- Wait a minute. The email can take a little while.
- Look in your spam or junk folder. The email comes from Watt Fighters.
- Check that you typed your email address the right way.
- A code works only once, and only for a short time. If your code is old, ask for a new one.
- Before it sends the email, the game checks that you’re a person, not a computer program. If that check doesn’t load, turn off your ad blocker or try another browser.
If it still doesn’t work, write to us at support@wattfighters.com and say which email address you used.
How do I get my rider on another device?
Sign in on the other device with the same email address. Your rider, what the game learned about you and your rides come back.
It doesn’t matter how you sign in. An email code, Google and Apple all open the same account when the email address is the same. Gmail ignores dots, so steven.wilssens@gmail.com and stevenwilssens@gmail.com open the same account too.
To see how you can sign in, open Ways to sign in on the Settings tab. Press Add Google to sign in with Google from then on, even with a Google account that has a different email address. You can remove a way to sign in there too, as long as one is left.
A guest rider is saved only on the device where you made it. To move a guest rider, open the Riders screen and press Save riders to a file. On the other device, press Load riders from a file.
The Riders screen. Save riders to a file and Load riders from a file are on the left, under your riders.Two of us are signed in. How do we swap bikes?
Press the ⇄ button between the two riders at the top of the screen. Rider 1 becomes rider 2, and rider 2 becomes rider 1. Each rider takes their own power meter along.
If only one rider is on the bike, the ⇄ button puts the other signed-in rider on the bike instead.
In the lobby, Swap sides above the riders does the same.
Can my child have an account?
Yes. A child can race on your device with or without an account.
Riders who turn 16 or younger this year need a parent’s yes before they race people online. The game asks for a parent’s email, and the parent says yes or no from the link in that email.
A young rider can’t start a club. Their career page can be seen by their friends at most, never by everyone.
What do you save about me, and what are the rules?
The Privacy Policy says what Watt Fighters saves about you, why, who else sees it, and how to download or delete it. In short: without an account, your rider and rides stay on your device. With an account, we save your email, your rider and your rides, and a replay of each race for 30 days. We never sell them.
The Terms of Use are the rules for playing: ride safely, race fair, and be kind to other riders.
A new account agrees to both before it rides: the game asks once you sign in. When either page changes, we email everyone with an account to say what changed, and the game asks you to agree again.
Links to both are in your rider’s menu at the top right, just under the game’s first screen, at the bottom of this page and in the sign-in window.
How do I delete my account?
Open the Settings tab on the Riders screen and press Delete account. The game emails you a code first, and you type it in to delete the account. That way, nobody else on your device can delete it. It deletes your email, your rider, your rides, your races, your replays and your pictures, online and on this device. You can download your data in the same window before you delete it.
You can also delete your account without the app, on the delete account page. Type the email address you sign in with, and type the code we email you.
A rider who isn’t signed in has Delete rider in the same place. It deletes the rider and their rides from this computer.
Race formats
Which race should I try first?
A scratch race is the easiest to start with: everyone starts together, and the first rider over the line wins.
If you’re good at short, hard efforts, try the match sprint or the keirin. If you can ride hard for a long time, try the points race or a long time trial.
How does a match sprint work?
Two riders race a few laps, and the first one over the line wins. You race the best of three heats.
Nobody wants to lead. The rider behind can sit out of the wind and jump past at the end. So the first laps are slow, like cat and mouse. Then one rider goes, and the last 200 m are flat out.
The game steers your bike up and down the banking. When you lead slowly, you ride up high to watch the rider behind. If that rider comes close, you swing up the banking at them so they can’t pass over the top. When you go really hard, you drop down the banking, and the drop gives you speed.
On one device, you race a bot. It is the Diesel until you pick another one: tap the bot’s name above the Bots slider, and pick another bot. Each one races in their own way. If Who you race against says Men, you pick from the men. If it says Women, you pick from the women. If it says Open, you see everyone, with the strongest at the top. The game remembers your pick for your next match sprints.
Two riders on one device race each other.
Listen to the announcer. When you are behind, sit a bike length or two back and a little higher than the other rider, and watch. More than three or four bike lengths back is too far: when the other rider jumps, you can’t catch up. If you sit too close, you can’t react. The announcer tells you when your gap is too big, when you sit too close, and what won or lost each heat.
How does the keirin work?
Up to 7 riders ride behind a small motorbike called the derny. The derny gets a little faster every lap. Nobody may pass it.
The derny leaves the track with about 750 m to go: 3 laps on a 250 m track. Then it’s a sprint to the line.
What is the flying 200 m?
You ride alone against the clock. First you build up speed high on the banking. Then you dive down and ride flat out past the red line. The clock times only the last 200 m.
A sprint tournament starts with a flying 200 m. The fastest riders get the best places in the draw.
How does an elimination race work?
On a track of 250 m or less, the last rider over the line is out every two laps. On a longer track, like Marymoor or T-Town, the last rider is out every lap.
The bell rings at the start of every lap that ends with a rider going out. The lap without a bell is a free lap: nobody goes out at the end of it.
The race goes on until two riders are left. Then those two sprint for the win. Don’t get stuck at the back!
How does a points race work?
There is a sprint every few laps. The first four riders over the line score 5, 3, 2 and 1 points. The last sprint scores double.
A rider who gains a whole lap on the bunch scores 20 points. The rider with the most points wins.
How does a scratch race work?
Everyone starts together and rides a set number of laps. The first rider over the line wins. A rider who gains a whole lap beats everyone who didn’t.
What is an unknown distance race?
It’s like a scratch race, but nobody knows how many laps it will be. The bell rings when there is one lap to go.
How does a time trial work?
You ride a set distance as fast as you can, from a standing start. You can choose 500 m, 750 m, 1 km, 2 km, 3 km and 4 km.
Against another rider, each of you starts on your own side of the track. The faster time wins, and catching the other rider wins too.
You start in a start gate. Stop pedalling once you are in it. A clock counts down 50 seconds. It beeps at 30 and at 10 seconds, then every second from 5. Push off on the long beep at 0.
If you push off before the long beep, that is a false start, and every rider goes back into the gate. A second false start puts you out of the race. It works the same in online races.
What is open track?
Open track is not a race. You ride on the track for a few minutes while other riders come and go, like a warm-up at a real velodrome. Nobody wins, and there are no places.
As at a real velodrome, riders who ride easy stay above the blue line, and faster riders pass below them. When you ride easier than tempo, or a faster rider comes up behind you, the game takes you up above the blue line. Ride at tempo again, and you can ride lower down.
You choose how long it lasts: 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20 minutes. When the time is up, you see how far you rode and your power.
You start down on the flat part below the track. Pedal, and once you are fast enough and nobody is coming from behind, you ride up onto the track.
Stop pedalling for a couple of seconds and you ride down off the track. Pedal again to ride back on. On the couch, press Harder to start pedalling.
Open track doesn’t count as a race. It isn’t in your race history, and it doesn’t count for your category. For now, you can ride it on one device only, not online.
What you need
What do I need to ride?
- You need a bike on a smart trainer, or a bike with a power meter. It has to send its power over Bluetooth. Most new ones do: look for Bluetooth on the box.
- You need a computer near the bike, with Chrome or Edge. See what your computer needs.
- A heart rate monitor or a cadence sensor is welcome if you have one. The game shows what they read, but you can race without them.
Two riders can race each other on one computer, each on their own bike.
To race without a bike, press Race here, then choose Couch instead of Bluetooth under Power from. On a computer you use the keys: W and S for more and less power, and hold D to sprint. On a phone or a tablet you tap Harder and Easier, and hold Sprint. A couch race is practice. It never changes your profile, your FTP or your results. It isn’t saved with your rides or replays, it doesn’t count toward moving up out of Cat 5, and it never goes to Strava. Couch races are on your own device only, never online.
What computer do I need?
Watt Fighters runs in Chrome or Edge. This is what a Windows computer needs.
| Part | Enough to race | Best |
|---|
| What you get | You can race in 3D at the London velodrome, with a few riders. | The race runs smoothly at every velodrome, with as many riders as a race can have. |
| Windows | Windows 10 or 11 | Windows 11 |
| Browser | Chrome or Edge, up to date | |
| Processor | One from 2018 or later, such as an Intel Core i5 or an AMD Ryzen 5 | One from 2021 or later, such as an Intel Core i5 or an AMD Ryzen 5 |
| Memory (RAM) | 4 GB | 8 GB or more |
| Graphics | The graphics built into the processor, such as Intel UHD 620 or AMD Radeon Vega 8 | Intel Iris Xe or AMD Radeon 680M, or a graphics card such as an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 or newer | Bluetooth 5.0 or newer, if two riders share the computer |
| Internet | Any home internet | |
A Mac or a Chromebook needs about the same.
A computer with an Intel Celeron, Pentium or N100 processor is often too slow for a smooth race in 3D.
When a computer is slow, the race draws the picture a little less sharp and makes the shadows simpler, so the race keeps running smoothly. When the race runs smoothly again, the picture gets sharp again.
A desktop computer often has no Bluetooth. A small USB Bluetooth adapter adds it.
We haven’t tried Watt Fighters on many computers yet, so this is our best guess. If the race doesn’t run smoothly on yours, press Tell us what you think and tell us which computer you have.
See how to find out what your computer has.
How do I see what my computer has?
On Windows:
- Press the Windows key, type About, and open About your PC. It shows the processor, the memory (Installed RAM) and which Windows you have.
- To see the graphics, press Ctrl, Shift and Esc together to open Task Manager. Choose Performance, then GPU. The name of the graphics is at the top right.
- To check for Bluetooth, open Settings, then Bluetooth & devices (on Windows 10: Devices). If there is a Bluetooth switch, the computer has Bluetooth.
On a Mac, open the Apple menu and choose About This Mac.
Can I ride on a Mac, a Chromebook, an iPad or a phone?
Yes, you can ride on a Mac or a Chromebook. Open wattfighters.com in Chrome or Edge.
You can’t ride on an iPad, an iPhone or an Android phone or tablet yet. The Watt Fighters app for them is coming soon.
On a phone or a tablet you can try a demo race. The game pedals for your rider, and you tap when it’s time to sprint. Press + to ride harder and − to save your legs. In a match sprint, the Sprint button is there as soon as the race opens, so you pick the moment to jump. The Demo card names the race. Its round arrow button picks another race, and its switch lets you ride it as a man or as a woman. After a demo, you see who came where and every rider’s power, as after a real race, and you can press Watch Replay to see the race again. Swipe, or press the button at the bottom, to go to the next page. On the last pages you pick the next race. You can also sign up for races, find friends and see the standings there while you ride on a computer. On a phone, the button with three lines at the top right opens Riders, Calendar, Standings, Support and your account. See what you can do on a phone.
When something doesn’t work
Why doesn’t my power meter show up?
- Pedal for a few seconds. Most power meters and trainers sleep until the pedals turn.
- If you press Ride before your power meter is connected, the game shows who still needs to connect. Press Find a power meter next to your name, then pedal. The race can start once every rider is connected.
- Close any other app that is connected to it, such as a training app on your phone. Many power meters talk to only one app at a time.
- Check that Bluetooth is on. On Windows, open Settings, then Bluetooth & devices.
- Move the computer closer to the bike.
- Use Chrome or Edge. Other browsers can’t connect to Bluetooth.
- A desktop computer without Bluetooth needs a small USB Bluetooth adapter.
The game waits until every rider has connected a power meter. Press Find a power meter, then pedal.What if the race doesn’t run smoothly, or isn’t in 3D?
If your computer can’t draw the velodrome in 3D, the race shows as a flat drawing of the London velodrome instead. You can still race the same way.
If the race doesn’t run smoothly, try these:
- Close other programs and browser tabs.
- Plug a laptop in to charge. Many laptops slow down on battery.
- Update Chrome or Edge.
- Open the browser’s settings and choose System (in Edge: System and performance). Turn on “Use graphics acceleration when available”.
If it still doesn’t run smoothly, press Tell us what you think and tell us which computer you have. It helps us make the game work on more computers.
Racing online
Who are the AI riders?
An AI rider is a bot. The computer rides it, not a person.
Every bot has a small AI label after its name, so you always know who is a real person.
Bots race with you when you race on your own device. Online, they take the places nobody rides in, so a race is never empty.
In the standings, beating a bot counts for half as much as beating a person. A bot never scores points itself. See how the points work.
There are 9 men who come back race after race, each with a style of their own: one goes from two laps out, another waits for the last bend. Their tactics change from race to race, so learning one pattern won’t beat them.
Each bot races to what their legs are good at. In a bunch race, a sprinter sits in the bunch and saves it for the sprints. A bot who knows they won’t win a sprint attacks to get away, and attacks again when a move is caught. They also do more of the work in a chase.
Every bot gets their legs back at their own speed after a hard effort. A strong endurance rider gets them back quickly when the race slows down. A pure sprinter gets them back slowly.
In the last laps of a bunch race, the bots ride faster and faster, and a bot with legs left starts the sprint from further out. Most of them have very little left at the line. A bot who is dropped near the end with no chance gives up and rides in.
Each of them has a woman who races the same way. Most men are faster than most women, so she rides at the power of a top woman racer.
On your own device, you pick who you race against in the lobby, under Bots: Men, Open or Women. With Men, all the bots are men. With Women, all the bots are women. With Open, about one bot in three is a woman. Until you pick, a man races men and a woman races women. Online, every race has men and women together for now.
In a category race, each bot is as strong as a rider somewhere in that category: some are strong that day, others weaker. They never take points to move up.
On the Riders screen, press AI riders on the left, under your riders. It shows each bot, what they’re good at, with a bar out of 10 for their sprint, their threshold, their stamina and their recovery, and how you do against them. Pick All, Male or Female at the top to see all the bots, only the men or only the women.
The AI riders page. Each bot has a card with what they’re good at, how they race, and how often you finished ahead of them.What is my category?
Your category is your place on the racing ladder. There are 7 categories: Cat 5, Cat 4, Cat 3, Cat 2, Cat 1, Elite and Pro. Pro is the top.
Every new rider starts in Cat 5. After 5 finished races, you move up to Cat 4. See Cat 5.
You have two categories: one for sprints and one for bunch races. A sprinter and a rider who can go hard for a long time are good at different races.
You move up with points from category races. You also move up when your power is clearly too strong for your category.
The game measures your power with a rating: a number from 0 to 1000 that says how fast you are on the track. The rating comes from your best efforts of the last 90 days, on your height and weight if you’ve entered them. It never comes from numbers you type.
Cat 3 is the highest category for a rider whose power hasn’t been checked. To race in Cat 2, your power has to be checked: by a second power meter during your rides, or by your rides on Strava. Cat 1 and up need the second power meter and a check of your weight. See How is my power checked?.
Riders reach Elite with a season of top results in Cat 1, and the best Elite riders become Pro.
Your category never drops by itself, even when your rating does. But when your races are too hard, you can move to a better-matched category.
The Overview tab of your profile shows both categories, your rating, and your points to move up.
Categories on the Overview tab: one for sprints and one for bunch races, with the rating and the points to move up under each one.How is my power checked?
To race in Cat 2 and up, the game checks that your power is real. There are two ways. The Career tab of your profile shows both, and how far you are.
With Strava: connect Strava, then press Check my Strava rides. The game reads your outdoor rides with a power meter from the last 6 months. You need at least 3. If your best minute, 5 minutes and 20 minutes outside back up your power in the game, your power is checked. That opens Cat 2.
With a second power meter: put a power meter on your bike (pedals, cranks or a hub) and ride on your trainer as usual. Add it under Sensors, as Second power meter, before a race. When the ride ends, the game compares the two. Three rides that agree, within a month, check your power. That opens Cat 2, and Cat 1 and up once your weight is checked too.
The two meters agree when their averages are within 5% and their best 5 seconds, minute and 5 minutes within 8%. Calibrate both before you ride: most apps call it a zero offset.
Some trainers can copy another power meter. Apps often call it power match. Turn it off, because then the game sees the same numbers twice and can’t compare.
A check lasts 90 days. Check again before it runs out. A ride where the two meters don’t agree ends the check, and you need three rides that agree again.
For Cat 1 and up, your weight is checked too. See How is my weight checked?.
Riders whose power is checked have a Verified badge next to their name in start lists, results and the standings. The standings can show only them, and an organiser can make a session for them only.
What happens if my watts are impossible?
Every race checks your watts against what the best riders in the world can do. If your watts are past that, the race doesn’t count for you, and your screen says so at once.
This usually means a power meter or trainer that needs calibrating, or a wrong weight on your profile. Calibrate it, and check your weight.
Online, each race like that in a season is a step: first a warning, then you need your power checked before you race again, then no online races until the end of the season. A fourth time, your subscription isn’t renewed.
The game also flags a few things for a person at Watt Fighters to look at, such as a heart rate at rest while the watts are high. A flag never changes a result by itself.
If you think a step was wrong, you can ask for it to be looked at again. Open Race online, then Settings. Your record is there, with a button to appeal each step.
The Terms of Use set out these rules in full.
Why does the announcer talk about me?
Before and during a race, the announcer sometimes tells everyone a bit of good news about a rider: that they just moved up a category, that this is their 50th race, that they are racing at their home track, or that they and another rider in the race keep beating each other.
The announcer talks about your wins only once your power is checked. See How is my power checked?.
If you would rather the announcer didn’t talk about you, open the Settings tab of your profile. Under Home track, untick “The announcer may talk about…”. The announcer still says your name when it calls the race.
Who is the announcer?
The announcer calls every race over the velodrome’s loudspeakers. A man calls about four races in five, and a woman calls the rest.
At the five velodromes in the USA (Marymoor, T-Town, the VELO Sports Center, Alpenrose and Major Taylor), the announcers are American. At every other velodrome, they are British.
The announcer welcomes everyone to the velodrome and says which country it is in. When every rider in the race is in the USA and the race is at a velodrome in the USA, the American announcer leaves the country out. At London and Manchester it works the same way for riders in the UK.
To pick the man, the woman or nobody, press the gear at the right end of the top bar in the lobby. Under “Who calls the race over the speakers?”, pick who you want.
What is an ambassador code?
Ambassadors are Elite and Pro riders who bring new riders to Watt Fighters. Each ambassador has 10 codes a season, with their name in them.
If an ambassador gave you a code, type it on the Career tab of your profile, in your first 14 days. Each account can use one code. When Watt Fighters starts charging, your first 6 months are free.
Elite and Pro riders who are 19 or older this year can become ambassadors on their Career tab. The Terms of Use say what an ambassador may and may not do with their codes.
How is my weight checked?
If you turn 19 or older this year, your weight isn’t checked. A second power meter is enough to race in Cat 1 and up.
If you are 18 or younger this year, a parent confirms your weight before you race in Cat 1 and up. Your weight changes how fast you go in the game, so it has to be right. Other riders never see it.
On the Career tab, press Check my weight and type your weight. We email your parents, and one parent says whether it’s right. Your parent’s email address goes under Settings, Account.
A checked weight lasts 90 days, and it goes on your profile, so your races use it.
What is Cat 5?
Every new rider starts in Cat 5. You move up to Cat 4 after you finish 5 races on a power meter or a trainer, on your own device. A couch race doesn’t count, and neither does a race you leave before the end. You can ride all 5 in one evening.
Your profile shows how many you’ve done. After the last one, you move up to Cat 4. If your power is already too strong for Cat 4, you move up further, as far as Cat 3.
In Cat 5 you race at your home track: the velodrome closest to you. You can pick another one in your profile, under Settings, Home track. The other velodromes open in Cat 4.
Online races open in Cat 4 too. In Cat 5 you race the bots on your own device, so the game learns how strong you are before you race other people.
A guest rider, with no account, can race at every velodrome from the first race.
Before each of the 5 races, a short tip comes up: setting up your bike, racing basics, categories and points, checking your power, and what comes next. After the race, the results say what the tip was about and how many races you have left. If you know all this already, press Skip the tips. You can turn them on again under Settings, Home track.
If you signed up for an online race before 31 October 2026, you can still ride it. While you’re in Cat 5, only you see your online results. They don’t count in the standings, and the other riders’ points leave you out.
This is so a new account can’t win easy races before the game knows how strong its rider is.
What are category races?
Category races are the game’s own races, at the same times every week. Each category has its own session, so you race riders at your level.
They are the only races that give points to move up a category. There is no handicap, so the strongest rider wins.
They are on these days, in Brussels time:
- Tuesday at 19:30: bunch races, for adults.
- Wednesday at 14:00: bunch races, for Juniors.
- Wednesday at 14:45: a sprint tournament, for Juniors.
- Thursday at 19:30: a sprint tournament, for adults.
- Saturday at 10:00: bunch races, for adults and Juniors.
- Saturday at 10:45: a sprint tournament, for adults and Juniors.
You can enter the races of your own category, or of a higher one. You can’t enter a lower one.
You can enter them once you’re out of Cat 5, after your first 5 races. The same goes for every online race.
Juniors, riders who turn 10 to 18 this year, race them only with other juniors. Riders who turn 19 or older race with the adults. Riders who turn 9 or younger this year can’t race them yet. A young rider needs a parent’s yes to public races to see them.
Everyone in a race starts together, but each age group is scored on its own: juniors 10 to 12, 13 and 14, 15 and 16, and 17 and 18, then the seniors (19 to 34) and the masters, in groups of five years from 35 to 69, and 70 and older. So a 12-year-old who finishes behind two 17-year-olds can still win the points of their own group. A group with fewer than 3 riders in the race is scored with the group next to it.
Bots ride in every empty place in the bunch races. If nobody signs up for a session, it doesn’t run.
How do I move up a category?
You move up with points from category races, or when you get clearly faster than your category.
Points come from your place among the people in a category race. Bots don’t count, and riders still in Cat 5 don’t count. So if you finish 4th behind three bots, you’re 1st for points.
How many points each place gives depends on how many people started the race:
- 12 or more people: 10, 7, 5, 3, 2 and 1 points for the first six.
- 8 to 11 people: 7, 5, 3 and 1 points for the first four.
- 5 to 7 people: 5, 3 and 1 points for the first three.
- 3 or 4 people: 3 and 1 points for the first two.
- 1 or 2 people: no points.
So racing the bots alone, or with one friend, never moves you up. A sprint tournament gives points once, for its final places.
At 15 points you can move up. Your profile shows a button for it, for whenever you feel ready.
At 30 points you move up, right after the race. A rider who keeps winning can’t stay down.
Points count for 12 months. When you move to another category, your points start again from 0.
Points move you up from Cat 4 to Cat 3. To move past Cat 3, your power has to be checked: see How is my power checked?. Riders move from Cat 1 to Elite with a season of top results.
If your rating gets clearly past the top of your category, you move up too, in any race. That stops anyone winning easy races by holding back.
In a category race, your screen tells you at once, and you race on. That race gives you no points, and everyone behind you moves up a place. Your category races earlier in the same session lose their points too, and the riders in them hear about their extra points.
What is a season?
A season is a calendar year. You keep your category from one season to the next, but you have to defend it.
To keep Cat 3, Cat 2 or Cat 1, score 10 points in the season’s category races. Elite and Pro need 20 points, and your power has to stay checked. If you miss it, you start the next season one category lower. Cat 4 never drops to Cat 5.
If you moved into your category during the season, you keep it at the end of that season, whatever your points.
A Cat 1 rider who scores 40 points in a season, with their power checked, moves up to Elite on 1 January. The 50 Elite riders with the most points become Pro.
2027 is the first season that counts: nobody moves down at the end of 2026.
Your profile shows your points this season, and how many more keep your category.
Can I move down a category?
Your category never drops by itself. But when your category races keep being too hard, you can move to a better-matched category.
You can after 6 tough races out of your last 8 in your category. A tough race is one where you finish in the bottom quarter of the field, or don’t finish, and score no points. The bots count in the field: they ride at the category’s power, so finishing behind them means the category is too hard.
Your power has to fit the category below too: your rating has to be under its top. So a strong rider can’t lose on purpose to move down.
When you can, your profile and the results of a category race show a button: Move to a better-matched category.
After you move down, points can’t move you up again for 4 weeks, unless you reach 30 points. If you ride faster than the category allows, you still move up.
If you move up and it doesn’t fit, the game moves you back: in the 8 weeks after moving up, 5 tough races out of your first 6 in the new category, if your power fits the category you came from.
Who can see my career page?
Your career page shows how far you’ve come: your races, wins and best times, your best efforts month by month, the riders you race most, every velodrome you’ve raced at, and your milestones. It’s the Career tab of your profile.
At the top, Your place on the ladder shows your category for sprints and for bunch races, what comes next, the tips you’ve had in Cat 5, your home track and whether your power is checked. Only you see this part.
The Career tab: races, wins and podiums, your best power month by month, your best times, and the riders you race most.Only you see it, until you share it. On the Career tab you can choose your friends, or everyone. Your weight is never on it.
A young rider’s parent chooses, from the link in their mail: only the rider, or the rider’s friends too. A young rider’s page never goes further than friends.
Your friends open it from their list of friends.
Why did my rating go up after one race?
Your rating goes up as soon as you ride harder than before, in any race on a power meter or a trainer.
This is so nobody can win by holding back: the moment you show what you can do, the game knows.
Your rating never drops during a session, even when you get tired in your last race.
It only drops when your best efforts are more than 90 days old. If you haven’t ridden at all for that long, it waits until you ride again.
How do I score points in the standings?
You score points in online races. A race counts when at least two riders start it, bots included.
Each rider is worth points by their category: Cat 5 is worth 10, Cat 4 is worth 12, Cat 3 is worth 14, Cat 2 is worth 16, Cat 1 is worth 18, Elite is worth 20 and Pro is worth 22.
When you finish a race, you get your own points, plus the points of every rider who finished behind you.
A bot is worth half a rider of its category, so beating a person always counts for more.
If you don’t finish, you get half your own points.
Only your best 10 races of a week count, your best 30 of a month and your best 100 of a year. So a bad race never costs you anything.
The Standings screen shows the table. Under it, “How the points work” goes through a race step by step.
The Standings screen: your place this week, the top three, and every rider’s points.Sessions and clubs
How do I plan a night of races on my own device?
A session is a few races in a row, with rests between them, like a night at the velodrome.
A new session starts with 5 minutes of open track to warm up. You can take it out, or make it longer.
- Press Race here.
- Under Event, choose Sessions.
- Pick a session to start from, such as Track Night, or press Make your own. Choose the races and how long each rest is.
- Press Ride. The game takes you from one race to the next.
Sessions, under Event: start from a ready-made night of races, or make your own.A session can be part of a tournament too, such as a sprint tournament or a keirin tournament.
How do I race my friends online?
You make an online session, and your friends sign up for it. You each ride at home, on your own device, at the same time.
- Sign in, then press Race online.
- Press New session. Give it a name and a time, and choose the races and the velodrome.
- Choose who can see it: only people you invite, your friends, a club, or everyone.
- Press Schedule and invite.
A new online session: its name, the time of the first race, the velodrome and the races. Schedule and invite is at the bottom.Coach Mac reminds every rider who is going 24 hours, 1 hour and 10 minutes before the start.
A session can even out the riders’ power, so a parent and a child can race each other and anyone can win.
Where do I see the results when I watch an online race?
Beside the track, the Standings tab shows the standings for the night, with the AI riders in them. It also shows the places in every race so far, even the races before you came in.
While a race is on, the same tab shows who is in front right now.
Between races, a big board comes up over the track, like on TV. It shows the last race’s places and the standings. Press Hide the results to see the track again.
In these standings, the winner of each race gets one point for each rider who started, and the last rider gets 1 point. The points on your record count only the people.
Where do I see my clubs, join one or leave one?
Open Riders, pick your rider, then the Clubs tab. Race online has the same Clubs tab.
It lists your clubs. Press Club’s page to open a club’s page on clubs.wattfighters.com, or Race nights to see its race nights in the game.
To join a club, type its name or town under Find a club, then press Join. Some clubs let you in straight away. At others, press Ask to join, and the club’s admins answer.
To leave a club, press Leave the club, then Leave. You race in your own kit again from your next race.
If you own the club, make another member the owner first, on the Members page of the club’s site. Then you can leave.
How do I start a club?
- Open clubs.wattfighters.com and sign in with the account you race with.
- Press Start a club.
- Fill in the club’s name, its link, your home town and how people join.
- Press Start the club.
Every club has its own page on clubs.wattfighters.com, with its events, leaderboards, records, members and groups.
The same site is also at wattfighters.com/clubs.
You choose who can join: anyone, riders you say yes to, or only riders you invite. You can own up to three clubs.
Young riders can join a club, but they can’t start one.
What is on a club’s page?
Home shows what’s next on the calendar, the last race night’s results, the season’s leaderboard and new members.
Events has the club’s race nights in the game and its get-togethers, like a meeting or a morning at a real velodrome. Press Going, Maybe or Can’t make it. Add to my calendar puts every club event in your phone’s calendar.
Leaderboards ranks the members by points, wins, races, time ridden and best times, for this week, this month, the season or all time, for the whole club or one group.
Records is the club’s best times in the flying 200 m and the time trials, by age, for women and men. A time counts when you ride it as a member, in the game or online.
Members and Groups show who is in the club and the parts of the club, like the juniors or the race team.
What is my club’s link?
Your club’s page is at clubs.wattfighters.com/ and then the club’s link, like clubs.wattfighters.com/northgate.
Every club also has a short link that never changes, like clubs.wattfighters.com/c/7KQ2MX, and a QR code to print. Press Share the club on the club’s page to see them.
An admin can change the club’s link twice a year. The old link keeps working, and no other club can take it.
How do I invite people to my club?
Open your club’s page, then Members. Invite people is on the right.
Share the invite link or its QR code: anyone with it joins straight away. A young rider still needs an admin to let them in.
Or type up to 50 email addresses. People who don’t race in Watt Fighters yet get an email about the club, with a button to join. People who do race get the invite in the game too.
You can also find a rider by their name in the game and invite them.
How does my club get its own kit?
Open your club’s page, then Kit. The club’s admins and members with the Kit job design it.
Start from one of the game’s patterns, from one picture of your kit, from four pictures (front, back and both sides), from words that describe it, or from our template painted in any drawing program.
Then change its colours, and add words and logos. A rider beside it shows the kit in 3D. Swipe across the rider, or press the arrows, to see the kit on the bike and standing, from the front, the side and the back.
Ask for approval: the kit is checked first, because children see every kit. It can’t show alcohol, tobacco or betting brands, or anything unkind. The club’s sponsors’ logos are fine, a bike maker’s too, once the club ticks that it may use every logo on the kit. Then the club’s admins approve it and put it out. Watt Fighters looks at kits too. When we turn one down, the person who made it and the club’s admins get an email from support@wattfighters.com that says why, and the reason shows on the design. Change the design, then ask for approval again.
Every member races in it from their next race, in the game and online. A member who leaves the club races in their own kit again.
How do I race in my club’s kit, or in my own?
Open your profile, then Settings. Club kit is above your own kit: pick the club’s kit, or My own kit.
Or press Race in this kit on your club’s Kit page.
A race night can say Club kit only. Then every member races in the club’s kit in that session.
What is the club email?
One email with your clubs’ news: a new kit, events coming up, results and club records, and the club’s news. It comes at 8 in the morning, at most once a day, and only when there’s something new.
On each club’s page, choose Every day, Once a week or Never. Every email has a link to stop them.
Riders under 16 don’t get it.
How do I run my club’s members and groups?
On the Members page, an admin lets people in, takes them out, and gives members a job: Members, Events, News or Kit. A club with young riders can name welfare officers.
When someone is taken out of the club, they leave its groups and teams too. Their past results and records stay.
A group is a part of the club, like the juniors or the race team. Its leaders run it. A group can fill itself by a rule, like everyone under 18 or everyone 35 and over.
The club’s log shows the admins who did what over the last year.
Prices and offers
What does Watt Fighters cost?
Watt Fighters is free while it is in open beta. Open beta means the game is still being built, and anyone can play it.
We’ll tell you well before anything changes. Nobody pays without saying yes first.
Not yet. Everything in the game is free during the open beta, so there is nothing to discount.
If there are ever offers or promo codes, you’ll find them here.
Ideas and problems
How do I send an idea or tell you about a problem?
Press Tell us what you think, here or on the game’s start screen. Write what you’d like, or what went wrong, and send it.
Tell us what you think: choose what your message is about, write it, and press Send.The game adds which screen you were on and which device you play on, so we can find the problem faster.
We read every message.
Write to us at support@wattfighters.com. A person reads every email.
What is the code at the bottom of the settings?
It is this device’s code: 8 letters and numbers. You find it at the bottom of the settings, which the gear at the top of the game opens. Each device you play on has its own code.
If you write to us about a problem, we may ask for it. With it, we can turn on debug mode for that device. Then each race on it shows a line along the bottom of the screen with the race’s code and the time, and we keep the race for 30 days to find what went wrong.
While debug mode is on, press M or tap Mark at the end of that line to mark a moment you want us to look at. Each mark gets a number, so you can tell us what happened at each one. In the sensors window you can pick another key, a button on a remote on your handlebars, or a game controller’s button for it.
Debug mode is off unless we turn it on. The settings say when it is on.
Advertising
Can my company advertise in Watt Fighters?
Yes. Your ad can be painted big on the banking in the bends of the velodromes, like at a real track. It can also go on the advertising boards along the fence at the top of the track. Every rider sees it as they race past.
The announcer can also read out your ad between races, with your picture on a board over the track.
We count how many riders saw your ad, so you know what you get.
It is free for now. Sign in at ads.wattfighters.com with your Watt Fighters account, set up your advertiser profile and book a campaign. We check every campaign before it runs. The help on that site answers every question about advertising.
For anything else about advertising, write to us at support@wattfighters.com. Email us about advertising.
Why are there ads on the track?
Real velodromes have ads on the banking and on boards along the fence, so ours do too. Ads help pay for the game. They never cover the race or stop you riding.
Why does the announcer read out an ad between races?
At a real velodrome, the announcer reads out the sponsors in the break between races. Ours does too, and a board with the ad comes up over the track.
It happens between the races of a session, here and online. After a single race it happens only sometimes, and never after your first race of the day.
You never hear the same ad more than twice in a day, and never twice in a row.
Press Close on the board to close it at any time. An ad never comes before or during a race.
The board shows a QR code when the business has a web page. Nothing in the game opens the page. Only your phone does, if you choose to scan it.
How do I turn off the ads between races?
Open Riders, pick your rider, open Settings and untick Ads between races. Each rider has their own setting.
On one computer, when any rider racing there has turned them off, the breaks have no ads. A signed-in rider’s choice is kept on their account, so it holds on every computer.
A parent can turn them off for their child from the page in the parent’s email. Then only a parent can turn them back on.
The ads painted on the track stay, because they are part of the velodrome.
How are children kept from ads for adults?
Every ad says how old a rider must be to see it: everyone, 13 and over, 16 and over, or 18 and over.
An ad only shows in a race if every rider in it is old enough. In an online race, everyone watching counts too. Bots don’t count.
A guest rider, a rider with no birth year and a rider who still needs a parent’s yes all count as under 13. They only get ads for everyone.
Ads are never picked from anything about a rider. Your birth year never goes to an advertiser.
How do I report an ad?
On the board between races, press the ⋯ button in the corner, then Report this ad. On a race’s results, press Report an ad.
Pick what is wrong with it and press Send. We look at every report. When three riders report the same ad, it stops until we have checked it.
Why this ad?, in the same corner menu, says who the ad is from and why it is shown.