A colorful motion-tracking console nobody was watching three months ago just became the second best-selling gaming console in America during Black Friday week. The Nex Playground has somehow gone from startup curiosity to holiday phenomenon, quadrupling sales and putting pressure on Microsoft's struggling Xbox lineup with aggressive discounting and a product parents actually want their kids using.
It's hard to believe, but a decade-old startup that almost went bankrupt is now outpacing one of the world's biggest gaming companies. Nex Playground, a motion-tracking console that feels like Kinect for kids, has somehow become the story of this holiday season - and it happened almost entirely outside the radar of major tech coverage.
The numbers tell an astonishing story. According to video game analyst Mat Piscatella at research firm Circana, the Playground was the second best-selling console in the US during the week ending November 22nd, then held the third spot the following week. In October, Circana didn't even mention it. The console simply wasn't on anyone's list.
But after selling over 300,000 units in just twelve days leading up to November 22nd, the company is now on track to move 600,000 consoles for the entire year. That's a four-fold increase from last year's 150,000 units. The trajectory is almost absurd. According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the company did just $3 million in annual revenue before its pivot and wasn't even profitable. This year, it's projecting more than $150 million in sales and expects to finally break even.
Where did this come from? Black Friday discounting played a huge role. Nex slashed the price from $249 to $199 for the holiday, while Microsoft declined to discount Xbox. That's a critical difference when parents are scrolling through deals. But there's something deeper happening here too.
Parents are clearly drawn to a console that gets kids moving instead of glued to a screen. In a world where everyone's fighting about screen time limits, the Playground offers movement-based gameplay with the colorful, kid-friendly appeal that made the original Kinect so successful for families. It's positioned itself in a market gap that traditional consoles aren't addressing.