Virtual cycling; a sport in its own right?

It isn't for me.  I don't have space for an indoor set up, and I would rather spend the money on real bikes.  I am lucky enough to live on the edge of the South Downs, so have miles of quiet country roads on my doorstep, and of course the beauty of the Downs to go off roading on.  Not interested in racing, although I do "train" to an extent, as I want to get better and it adds another dimension to some rides.  

I could see the competitive side of it become quite addictive. Also, I do 90% of my riding alone, which is fine, but I could see riding Zwift and challenging yourself against others, albeit virtually, would appeal too. 

 Plenty of people use rowing machines despite never sitting in a boat. Each to their own I guess but there's a whole load of other more efficient ways to keep fit that I'd enjoy much more than cycling as a purely virtual endeavour, personally. 

I probably do 70% of my riding indoors on Zwift nowadays. For no other reason than I live in central London and the only time you can get quality riding done outside is first thing Sunday morning. 

There are definitely people who do spin classes (I include Peloton in that) religiously who don't own a 'real' bike, never ride outside, possibly don't even know how to.  

So it wouldn't surprise me if there were people who treat it exactly like a computer game, train and race indoors, their enjoyment is about the game rather than about exploring countryside or beating their time up a real hill.

I'm a big fan of Zwift and especially this year all my 'training'-type riding has been on it - I find it much easier to just hop on and do an hour's hard work than plan a route, choose the right kit for today's weather, pay attention to traffic etc.  And then when I ride outside it's purely for fun, I don't feel I'm wasting time if I just bimble along in the sunshine if I feel like it because the 'work' is done indoors.