A ‘Box That Looks Like the OUYA and Kinect Had a Kid’ Outsold the PS5 in the US the Week Before Thanksgiving
As the holiday shopping season approaches, the landscape of video game and console sales is heating up, with a surprising contender making waves: the NEX Playground. Launched in 2023, this innovative gaming system has emerged as a popular choice for families, particularly those with young children. Unlike traditional gaming consoles such as the PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch, the NEX Playground is a compact, cube-shaped device that utilizes AI-powered motion tracking technology to deliver a unique, motion-controlled gaming experience. Designed primarily for kids, it comes pre-loaded with five engaging games including “Fruit Ninja,” “Whac-a-Mole,” and “Go Keeper,” and offers a subscription service called “Play Pass” for additional titles like “Bluey Bust-a-Move” and “Peppa Pig Jump & Giggle.” This simplicity—just plug in and play—makes it accessible to families with little to no prior gaming experience.
The NEX Playground has already shown impressive sales figures, particularly as the holiday season kicks off. According to analyst Mat Piscatella from Circana, the NEX Playground was the second best-selling gaming hardware in the U.S. for the week ending November 22, outperforming the PS5 Slim and only trailing behind the Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle. Piscatella noted that NEX’s unit sales are up an astounding 3,384% compared to the same period last year, making it the leading product in the Plug-N-Play hardware segment. This surge in popularity can be attributed to increased retail distribution, effective marketing strategies, and social media buzz, particularly on platforms like TikTok. While it’s unlikely that the NEX will dethrone the major console players in annual sales, its remarkable growth suggests that it will be a common sight in holiday shopping carts this year.
The NEX Playground’s success highlights a growing trend in the gaming industry, where family-friendly and accessible gaming experiences are becoming increasingly popular. As parents seek engaging ways to entertain their children, devices that offer simple, interactive gameplay without the steep learning curve of traditional consoles are gaining traction. The combination of nostalgia for motion-controlled gaming and the appeal of beloved children’s characters has positioned the NEX Playground as a strong contender in the holiday market. With its impressive ratings—82% of reviews at Target are five stars and a 4.7 overall rating on Amazon—it’s clear that the NEX Playground is not just a passing fad but a significant player in the evolving world of gaming. As we move deeper into the holiday season, expect to see this innovative device making its mark alongside the more established giants of the gaming industry.
The holiday season is a time where we typically expect to see a serious surge in video game and console sales, for fairly obvious reasons. Normally, that means lots of PlayStations, Switches, and Xboxes are going home in people’s shopping carts. But recently, there’s another gaming system that’s giving the other console offerings a run for their sales. Have you heard of…the NEX Playground?
If you’re not a parent, chances are, you haven’t. The NEX Playground has actually been out for a while, having launched in 2023. Described as a successor to (of all things) the Kinect, this cube-shaped box uses AI-powered motion tracking to allow users to play motion-controlled games, generally geared toward kids. It comes bundled with five games (Fruit Ninja, Starri, Party Fowl, Whac-a-Mole, and Go Keeper), and you can get more by subscribing to “Play Pass”, which costs $89 per year or $49 for three months.
The NEX Playground was already a pretty hot gift for kids last holiday. It’s simple to use – literally plug in and play – and doesn’t require families to have any existing knowledge of video games or consoles or the tech associated with them. And it seems after a year of new game releases based on popular IPs, it may be even bigger this year. Through the Play Pass, you can now get access to games such as Bluey Bust-a-Move, How to Train Your Dragon Riders of the Skies, Peppa Pig Jump & Giggle, multiple Sesame Street games, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Rooftop Mayhem, and more. Though mostly focused on children’s games, there are also games like Zumba Fitness Party, Mingle (a match and merge puzzle game), and a few others that might also appeal to adults. All motion controlled.
That possibly explains why it’s already selling so well, even before Black Friday week.
According to Circana analyst Mat Piscatella on Bluesky
, the NEX Playground was the second best-selling hardware in the US for the week ending November 22, trailing only the Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle, and beating the PS5 Slim in third place. As
Piscatella put it
, “Anyways, a box that looks like the OUYA and Kinect had a kid has 82% 5 star reviews at Target, and a 4.7 overall rating with 2.5k reviews on Amazon.”
Speaking to IGN over direct message, Piscatella elaborated just how well the NEX was doing.
“NEX US unit sales are up 3,384% compared to last year for the YTD period ending Nov 22nd, 2025,” he said. “It’s the leading product for the year in the Plug-N-Play hardware segment (which also includes products like the My Arcade Gamestation Pro Atari, Game & Watch, and back in the day included things like the NES Classic and Sega Genesis Mini…) but ranks 5th overall on a platform basis in YTD [year-to-date] units (behind Switch 2, PS5, XBS and Switch). Sales of NEX have picked up steam over the past say 5 weeks or so, thanks to (what looks like) increased distribution at retailers like Target, some additional marketing programs and people tell me TikTok.”
Piscatella went on to tell me that this is the first time he’s seen a plug-and-play device like this get close to this sort of ranking. He suggested the NES Classic might have been a noteworthy seller, but doesn’t have weekly data going back that far. But he also clarified that he doesn’t think this means the NEX will overtake any of the console giants in annual sales – he expects it to remain at the same rank (5th) through the end of the year. So unfortunately we won’t have any weird plug-and-play upsets in Circana’s annual report. But you’ll still probably see a lot of these around when you’re doing your holiday shopping in the coming weeks.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
