Xerdeck Helps Over-50s Build a Walking Habit — One Game World at a Time

Gentle, gamified home workouts make it easier to get moving — coming to Kickstarter 29 Sept

ADELAIDE, SA, AUSTRALIA, September 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Lava Software Pty Ltd today highlighted how Xerdeck, which turns your treadmill or indoor bike into a game controller, is designed with older adults and first-time exercisers in mind. By making your daily walk into a fun and engaging exploration of a beautiful game world, Xerdeck aims to make regular exercise easier to start — and easier to stick with — whatever a person’s current fitness level.

Why It’s Built for Over-50s and Unfit People
Unlike fitness games built around fast reflexes or complex button combinations, Xerdeck is deliberately simple: a joystick for looking around and a small set of remappable buttons for light actions, like jumping. That makes it approachable for people who haven’t exercised in a while, or who’ve found other exercise games too aesthetically crude, demanding or competitive.

There’s a mental-engagement side to it, too. A large study led by Western University neuroscientist Adrian Owen, published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, found that people who played video games regularly scored measurably better on tests of memory, reasoning and processing speed than people who didn’t play at all — put another way, frequent gamers performed cognitively, on average, like people 13.7 years younger. Xerdeck brings some of that engagement into a treadmill or bike session that might otherwise be spent watching the clock or looking at a wall.

Regular walking is also long established in exercise science as a mood booster: it increases blood flow and is linked to the release of mood-regulating brain chemicals. None of that requires speed or intensity — a gentle, conversational pace on the treadmill is enough to count, and Xerdeck doesn’t ask users to move any faster than they’re comfortable with.

Xerdeck is also built to remove some of the usual excuses. For anyone put off by summer heat, poor air-quality days, or the hassle of getting to a gym, it brings the walk indoors — exploring snow-capped mountains or wandering 1860s London from a treadmill in an air-conditioned lounge room, regardless of the weather outside.

Pricing is designed to keep the barrier to entry low, too: the Xerdeck controller starts at AU$139 for Kickstarter super early birds, using fitness equipment many people already own. The optional wireless Single-Handed Controller (SHC) lets a second person — a family member, carer or personal trainer — steer on behalf of someone with limited hand dexterity, opening the platform to elderly or disabled users.

“Xerdeck makes exercising fun and engaging by letting users explore beautiful video game worlds on their treadmill or exercise bike, which is particularly good for older people or gamers wanting to get regular exercise. I wanted to build something that made me actually look forward to my daily walk, and that would also enable me to chat with friends as we wander around a Swiss mountain village or London in the 1860s.”

— Michael Wildoer, Founder and CEO, Lava Software Pty Ltd

With Xerdeck mounted on the handrail (or handlebars) and connected via Bluetooth to the treadmill or indoor bike, walking or pedalling speed directly drives a character’s movement speed in-game, letting players explore open world games like Horizon Zero Dawn, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (set in Viking-age Britain), Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II and Hogwarts Legacy while they exercise.

A landscape library for Xerdeck (on PC, and later on other platforms) with a beautiful collection of landscapes, historical locations and tourist destinations will be released and regularly updated after the Kickstarter campaign, to add new content tailored for Xerdeck.

A Founders Lifetime Subscription to this landscape library will be a selectable option in the post-campaign survey (for AU$269), but we plan to include this subscription free to all pledgers if we hit the AU$1m Kickstarter stretch goal.

Xerdeck works with PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Meta Quest 3 VR, Android TV and Apple TV, and launches on Kickstarter on 29 September. The Xerdeck Youtube channel has demos showing Xerdeck used with various PlayStation 4, PC and PCVR games.

More information about the Xerdeck Kickstarter can be found at https://kickstarter.com/projects/331563009/xerdecktm-turns-your-treadmill-or-bike-into-a-game-controller

Media Contact
Michael Wildoer • hello@xerdeck.com • xerdeck.com

Media Kit
Includes the full press release and fact sheet, high-resolution product and hardware photos, and demo gameplay clips (including a treadmill playthrough of Horizon Zero Dawn). Download it from https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/c72wz2zrg1ufy6mihjva4/AFyX5ngmfgJYDKibtWPXCJc?rlkey=bc0g7jmbfkmsc4cargw1t1azn&st=s6wts2o5&dl=0

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About Lava Software Pty Ltd
Lava Software Pty Ltd is an indie electronics and software development company located in Adelaide, Australia.

Xerdeck is an independent hardware accessory and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

“Xerdeck” is a Trademark of Lava Software Pty Ltd.

“PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

All other trademarks, game titles, and platform names are the property of their respective owners. Xerdeck is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of the games or platform holders referenced.

Notes to Editors — Source Paleczny SG, Wild CJ, Xue A, Highfield R, Owen AM (2025) “Characterizing the cognitive and mental health benefits of exercise and video game playing.” PLOS ONE 20(10): e0334924. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0334924

This research was first reported by Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry a year earlier, while the findings were posted as a preprint: Renaud J. “Study shows playing video games may improve cognitive performance.” Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry News, 21 October 2024.
https://schulich.uwo.ca/about/news/2024/october/study_shows_playing_video_games_may_improve_cognitive_performance.html

Press Release © 2026 Lava Software Pty Ltd.

Michael Wildoer
Lava Software Pty Ltd
hello@xerdeck.com
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