Pre-orders are already stay for the UK and Eire launch of the Nex Playground, which is ready to ship in direction of the top of June. The console, which is geared toward households and employs motion-tracking know-how – very similar to Microsoft’s long-gone Kinect – proved to be a shock hit in the USA, pushing the PlayStation 5 into third place for gaming {hardware} unit gross sales in November 2025.
The system debuted with a price tag of $249 within the States, however in March this yr the corporate announced the price can be growing to $299 because of an increase in the price of components, pushed by the speedy enlargement of AI infrastructure. The UK launch price is £269.99, whereas it prices €319 in Eire.
“Ideally we needed to make it cheaper,” Nex CEO and co-founder David Lee tells GamesIndusty.biz, including that it has been a “bizarre yr” because of the AI-driven pressures on gaming {hardware} producers.
However Nex president Thomas Kang feels assured that there will not be any further price jumps within the close to future. “We be ok with the price we’re at proper now,” he says. “We’ll find a way to maintain it.”
“We really feel good for this yr,” he provides. “We have secured our components for this yr.”
Kang will not share the gross sales targets for Nex Playground’s UK and Eire launch, however he’s assured of the demand for the console. “Proper now we’re on allocation for all markets, that means we have extra demand than provide. We ran out the final two Christmases on December 4. We left your complete December demand on the desk.”
“What we are going to do is we’re going to be sure that the UK has ample provide all year long, as a result of it is a new market that we’re getting into. We see loads of potential right here.”
Does Nex count on the console to promote out once more this coming December? “We hope not!” laughs Kang. However Lee warns that provides are usually not limitless, despite the fact that the corporate goals to produce a much bigger variety of consoles in 2026. “The demand remains to be sooner than our provide can catch up proper now,” says Lee, who notes that some folks had been reselling Nex Playgrounds at twice their retail price after provides ran dry.
Subscription solely
The Nex Playground comes with 5 free video games – Fruit Ninja, Starri, Whac-a-Mole, Go Keeper, and Celebration Fowl – however new video games can solely be added by way of a subscription relatively than being purchased individually. The subscription prices $49/£45 for three months, or $89/£90 for 12 months – and most consumers enroll.
“The subscription connect price presently is over 80%,” says Kang. “After which the renewal price for our largest cohorts is above 70%.”
One benefit of the system is that it permits Nex to see precisely what sorts of video games its customers play and which of them they need to put money into. “Subscription simply provides us a lot artistic freedom,” says Lee.
He factors to the Nex Labs part of the service, the place prototype video games are examined with the viewers, giving the instance of an experimental meditation sport. “The subscription service… leaves us with freedom to discover one thing that has not been carried out earlier than,” he says.
When it comes to how builders are paid, Lee says there’s quite a lot of fashions. Licensed IP is normally carried out underneath a work-for-hire association, he says, “however when exterior studios herald their very own unique IP, we all the time have rev share. We’ll pay for the creation of the sport and [give] rev share, too.”
He explains that Nex needed to create a “wholesome ecosystem” the place studios not solely obtain fee upfront, but in addition obtain funds which can be tied to the success of the sport over time. “It is an engagement mannequin,” provides Kang, “based mostly upon how a lot time folks spend at a sport versus the mixture. And in order our subscription base grows, it is a very engaging platform for builders, as a result of we do not have 1000’s of video games on our platform. We’ll develop to 150, 200 most over time.”
“We do not need to see ourselves as a discovery mess”
Thomas Kang
So, is Nex placing an higher restrict on the variety of video games on the system?
“That is extra like our intention to curate an excellent library of video games,” clarifies Lee. “We theoretically do not have a restrict. Can we construct 500 video games? Sure, we will. However does 500 video games make a greater product? No, it doesn’t.”
Kang says that when it comes to the Nex Playground library, the main focus is on high quality over amount. “We do not need shovelware on the platform,” he says, the place customers have to sift via a thousand or extra low-quality video games.
“We do not need to see ourselves as a discovery mess. We wish to be very, very handy for households to discover stuff they need to discover in a short time and revel in that.”
Holding the variety of video games comparatively low can also be useful to builders, he provides. “We’re paying builders previous their minimal ensures already, in our third yr of life,” says Kang. “I have been within the sport trade for 20 years – getting paid previous minimal ensures is uncommon.”
As well as, a part of Nex’s technique entails going again and bettering the video games which can be already fashionable. “So this yr we’re truly spending much more time updating outdated video games or the present video games on the platform, as a result of folks like them,” says Lee. “As a result of it is simply continuously making the product a greater product.”
On-line multiplayer
Nex is including on-line multiplayer performance to the Playground this yr. However naturally, given the console’s robust give attention to youngsters and households, the corporate is taking it cautiously.
“We’re so, so cautious about this,” says Lee. “Designing that proper is completely necessary to us.”
Firstly, the net multiplayer is optionally available, he explains. “We do not need to drive it upon our customers.” And secondly, establishing a reference to one other system requires parental consent, which entails every mother or father inputting a code.
Lee additionally emphasises that the video feed of whoever is taking part in just isn’t despatched between the units. “Your motion or your motion will get despatched, however not your video, not your voice, not textual content.”
Kang says that on-line play is one thing that gamers have been asking for. “David talks to our neighborhood on a regular basis. He is our neighborhood supervisor. He manages 50,000 folks on Fb – I am not joking. And the overwhelming majority need to join to play. The overwhelming majority. However they need it secure.
“They need grandparents to join with their grandkids. They need siblings to join with one another, cousins to join with one another. So this is about family and friends, no strangers.”
“We wish to create significant linked play experiences,” says Lee. “However on the identical time, maintaining it secure and safe, and never exposing the children to any sort of potential hazard. So we take accountability for that, and we are going to roll it out very rigorously. We all the time give the mother or father the management, as a result of we’re constructing for them – we’re not optimizing for getting the children to do one thing, we’re not in that enterprise.”
Past the UK
Nex Playground has taken some time to attain the UK and Eire, having launched in the USA again in December 2023. Kang says the corporate is being thought-about concerning the rollout.
“We wish to be very respectful to every market. Each market we go to, we’re going to localize to native IP, native play patterns, stuff like that. I feel Europe might be our focus for the following yr or so, after which we’ll be going to different markets ultimately. We count on to be world. We’re going to be in each necessary gaming market, and out of doors of it as effectively.”
“I feel the European market is the second that we’re occupied with tackling,” provides Lee, “as a result of we really feel that we will clear up related issues for the market. We’re very to go to Asia, however that might be our subsequent step.”
“We wish to be sure that we do one market at a time, and in addition make it out there,” he concludes, “in order that individuals who need a product can truly get it.”