Here’s all you need to know about it.
The best-selling video game console this Black Friday was the PlayStation 5. That surprised no one. The number-two spot went to the Nintendo Switch 2. Again, that was expected.
But the bronze position wasn’t held by Microsoft’s Xbox, as you might suppose. Instead, it was claimed by the Nex Playground, a small gaming system that almost no one had heard of two years ago.
The Playground has since grown into one of 2025’s hottest gifts. In 2023, just 5,000 units of the controller-free small cube were sold. In 2024, that number spiked to 150,000. This year, the company is on track to sell 600,000 units.
While it has a loyal (and growing) fan base, there are still a number of people scratching their heads at the Playground’s sales surge. If you’re one of them, we’ve got answers to all of your questions about this little gaming device that’s managing to carve out a new market in the video game world.
What is the Nex Playground?
The Nex Playground is an Android-powered console that utilizes a motion camera, meaning you control the onscreen action with movements, rather than a controller. The system uses AI to detect player movements, with a focus on keeping things simple. That’s a strategy Nintendo embraced several years ago with the Wii, offering a gaming console for the masses rather than one that was focused on the core gaming customer (though one that didn’t eschew those financial whales either).
The Playground doesn’t look like any gaming system you’ve seen before. It’s a three-inch multicolor cube with a camera lens staring at you. Instead of sitting on the couch, slumped back and passively enjoying a game, Playground players jump around and burn calories as they play their favorite titles. And they can play communally, rather than being isolated or playing with strangers online.
It’s a system designed for people aged five and up—but the younger focus doesn’t mean the games aren’t fun for adults. (You won’t, however, find shooters or mature titles.)