Nex Playground launches in UK and Ireland at £269, controller-free play

The parental pitch is simple: a TV game console that asks children to jump, dance, swing and dodge instead of sitting still with a controller. Nex Playground arrives in the UK and Ireland as a £269 device, or €319 in Ireland, but its real test is whether motion-controlled play can hold up after the first burst of novelty.

Nex will launch the cube-shaped console on 22 June, after pre-orders opened on 18 May through Amazon UK, Argos and Smyths Toys. Wider retail availability is due in late June at Argos and Smyths Toys stores and on TikTok Shop. The release marks Nex’s first expansion outside North America, where the company says Playground is on track to pass one million lifetime units sold.

The hardware is built around a wide-angle camera and AI motion tracking, with no handheld controller in sight. Nex says the console supports up to four players at once and connects to a television via HDMI, while its compact size is meant to let it sit on a console or mantle and even fit in a backpack. That portability is part of the sales pitch: a family system that can move easily between rooms, holidays and sleepovers.

Each unit comes with five starter games: Fruit Ninja, Starri, Whac-a-Mole, Go Keeper and Party Fowl. Nex says those titles are rated PEGI 3, and the company frames the system as suitable for young children. A Play Pass subscription is required to unlock the full library of more than 60 active games and monthly content updates, costing £45 for three months or £90 for 12 months in the UK and Ireland.

The company is also leaning hard on safety and privacy. Nex says Playground has no ads, no in-app purchases and no mature content. It also says motion-tracking data is not stored or processed in the cloud, and the platform is kidSAFE+ COPPA-certified. That positioning lands directly in a market where parents are increasingly wary of passive screen use and online risk.

Nex is reviving an idea that is not new. Nintendo’s Wii made motion play a household concept nearly two decades ago, and Kinect pushed the same basic idea further into the living room. Nex is betting that a smaller, cleaner, family-first version of that formula can travel farther now, especially after being named one of TIME100’s 10 Most Influential Companies in Entertainment for 2026.