Digicam-Primarily based Gaming Console Nex Playground Sells 600,000 Models in 2025, Outsells Xbox During Black Friday

Key Takeaways

• Nex Playground offered over 600,000 items in 2025, 4 instances its 2024 quantity, and outsold Xbox Series X/S throughout Black Friday week based on Circana market intelligence knowledge
• The $250 console makes use of digicam monitoring to allow lively play in residing rooms, with CEO David Lee describing it as an choice “when outdoors is too hot, too cold, too dark, too wet”
• The firm advanced from HomeCourt, a basketball shot-tracking app that went viral throughout COVID-19, after retention knowledge confirmed 10x enchancment when customers linked to TVs
• A subscription mannequin funds steady content material growth, with 20 new experiences created in 2025 plus platform updates, eliminating per-game purchases
• The console operates in over 5,000 North American shops, with most places offered out, and plans worldwide enlargement in 2026

Basketball Training App Pivot Leads to Console Development

Nex Playground originated from sports activities coaching expertise. Founder David Lee labored eight years at Apple constructing internet functions earlier than launching HomeCourt in 2017, a cell app utilizing smartphone cameras to trace basketball pictures and coaching drills.

During COVID-19, the coaching video games went viral amongst households confined indoors. User knowledge revealed a retention sample: iPad customers confirmed 3x higher retention than cellphone customers. When customers linked units to TVs, retention elevated 10x.

“We were basically building for the wrong platform,” Lee stated in an interview revealed December 18, 2025. “We needed a 65-inch iPad.”

UK broadcaster Sky contacted Nex about bringing its Active Arcade video games to Sky Live, a digicam accent for TVs. Following that partnership, Lee looked for related platforms globally however discovered none. The resolution to construct Nex Playground adopted.

Active Gaming Model Targets Weather-Limited Outdoor Play

Lee describes the console as addressing a selected constraint for households with younger youngsters. The product serves as what he calls “a good alternative to outdoor, when outdoors is too hot, too cold, too dark, too wet.”

The camera-based system requires bodily motion and tracks as much as 4 folks concurrently with no controllers. The console’s graphics capabilities match PlayStation 3 ranges, roughly 10 instances extra highly effective than the unique Wii based on Lee, whereas sustaining a $250 retail value.

According to a December 15, 2025 New York Post assessment, mother and father describe the console as holding youngsters “entertained and moving for hours.” The publication notes reviewers name it a “must for family game night” and a “modern version of Wii,” with a number of consumers stating it helped households keep lively in contrast to conventional sedentary video video games. The console meets kidSAFE+ COPPA security requirements and doesn’t retailer movement knowledge within the cloud, based on the corporate.

Subscription Revenue Supports Year-Round Content Production

Nex operates on a subscription mannequin reasonably than particular person recreation purchases. Lee states this construction advantages households with younger youngsters looking for to keep away from repeated buy requests whereas offering Nex with predictable income for ongoing growth.

In 2025, the corporate created 20 new experiences plus platform updates. “Games that don’t need to have a business model on their own, the creative freedom just explodes,” Lee defined. “We can try that and see whether the customers like it.”

Licensed properties make up a good portion of the library. Bluey ranks persistently within the high 5 video games on the platform. Other partnerships embrace Sesame Street, Peppa Pig, Barbie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, and Zumba.

“Bluey is very popular,” Lee stated. “We also put our heart into making that game great, because it’s supposed to be how Bluey is like. In Bluey, the Heeler family play games, and we want [kids] to be able to play games just like Bluey and Bingo do.”

Half of the 2025 recreation lineup got here from exterior studios as Nex expanded past its three inside growth groups. Following Black Friday efficiency, Lee reviews inbound curiosity from studios looking for to develop for the platform, although Nex maintains a curated strategy reasonably than working as an open platform.

“I don’t want to turn it into some monetization engine for other games,” Lee stated. “We want it to be, ‘Hey, this is the platform designed fully, and from the ground up, to serve our audience.’”

Retail Expansion Accelerates After Buyer Testing

Nex Playground launched in 2023 with 5,000 direct-to-consumer items that offered out earlier than launch. In 2024, retail advisors really useful ready till 2026 to pursue brick-and-mortar distribution primarily based on the modest pre-order numbers.

“They said: ‘You’ve only sold 5,000 units in a pre-order campaign. You can think about going into retail in 2026. Take it slow,’” Lee recalled.

Buyers at Walmart, Best Buy, and Target examined samples with their very own youngsters and requested stock. Target stocked half its shops, Walmart added 100 places, and Best Buy positioned the console in 225 shops. Approximately 1,000 US shops carried the console in 2024, promoting by way of 150,000 items by Cyber Monday morning.

For 2025, Nex set a goal of 550,000 items and surpassed it throughout Black Friday. “We thought [our initial target] was a bit crazy already,” Lee stated. The firm has flown in stock to fulfill demand throughout greater than 5,000 retail places. “We are in over 5,000 stores, and basically everybody’s out,” Lee famous.

Circana knowledge exhibits Nex Playground outsold Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S in the course of the Black Friday procuring week, based on the New York Post. November 2025 marked the worst month for console {hardware} in 30 years for conventional gaming platforms.

The console now retails for $250, up from its 2023 launch value of $199, based on the New York Post. A 3-month Play Pass subscription gives entry to the complete recreation catalog, which receives month-to-month updates.

International Growth Planned for 2026

Nex at the moment operates solely within the US and Canada. International enlargement begins in 2026, with Lee expressing a long-term objective of inserting a Playground “in every living room” globally.

Lee studied the Wii’s market trajectory, which expanded the gaming viewers earlier than declining as informal customers bought restricted titles. “If we build a platform and people come in and buy a couple of games and that’s it, the whole system is not sustainable,” Lee stated. The subscription mannequin goals to keep up ongoing engagement and justify continued content material funding.

“We created a product that’s 100% family aligned and solving real problems,” Lee stated. “We can count on that to keep investing in content. We have much more creative freedom to pick what games we create.”

by way of: The Game Business / NYP

picture: polygon

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