Zwift announced the appointment of YuChiang Cheng as its chief product officer. Cheng will lead product design & UX, engineering, game design and art, product management, R&D, content programming, LiveOps, quality assurance, and community support for the brand.
Prior to Zwift, Cheng built cross-functional teams to create products for brands including Topgolf, Virgin Games, World Poker Tour, Monopoly, Sky, USGA, PGA of America, and MGM-Mirage.
Cheng co-founded the World Golf Tour (WGT), a virtual golf simulation game that grew to over 28 million players. WGT pushed the traditional sport of golf onto Facebook, iOS and into the esports competition world, making the game more accessible to a larger, more diverse audience. WGT pioneered the free-to-play business model in the Western world and merged real-world professional events with the virtual world by hosting the Virtual US Open over 10 years ago, which still continues today.
“I’m thrilled to welcome YuChiang Cheng to Zwift,” said Zwift CEO and Co-Founder, Eric Min. “This is a critically important hire for Zwift as we continue to invest in the very best people to develop our product experience and build out our teams. YuChiang brings considerable experience from a highly impressive career spanning companies of all sizes. I have no doubt that he will have a huge impact on leveling up the business as we move into hardware and continue to invest heavily into the core product experience, making Zwift more accessible to use and more personalized by design.”
“I’m honored to have the opportunity to steward the future of such an innovative product and work with a passionate world-class team at Zwift,” said Cheng. “This is a rare opportunity to be able to join a business which is wholeheartedly committed to investing in its product, people and consumer experience. Eric Min and the Board have committed substantial resources to build the best team, polish the product and drive new experience innovations for existing Zwifters. We are also committed to make Zwift a more accessible platform and fulfill our mission to help get more people, more active, more often.”
The news comes shortly after Zwift confirmed the appointment of Mark Cote as senior director, content programming. Cote joins Zwift following a 13-year career at Specialized where he worked across physical and digital product development, brand and marketing. Cote will report to Cheng working to define and implement the strategic vision for in-game training and event experiences.
“As a long-time Zwifter and huge fan of the brand, I’m thrilled to be joining Zwift,” said Cote. “My team will be working super closely with the Zwift community to bring enticing experiences that are even more engaging and accessible for all Zwifters.”
Photo courtesy Zwift
