Nex Playground is a motion-sensing sport console that takes the idea of the Nintendo Wii and advances it so that you don’t want any sport controller in any respect.
And now, in its bid to turn out to be a fourth sport console within the residence, it’s getting an unique sport dubbed Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon: Riders of the Skies, unique to the Nex Playground.
Tom Kang, president of Nex, revealed at our GamesBeat Summit 2025 occasion that Berk lovers will quickly have a brand new solution to expertise the magic of the viking world forward of the highly-anticipated launch of Common Footage’ “Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon” movie. Kang stated he thinks of Nex Playgrounds because the “subsequent evolution of the Wii.”
Developed in collaboration with Common Merchandise & Experiences, sport highlights embody:
- Iconic Areas: Gamers can expertise as much as six completely different sport maps based mostly on iconic areas from the world of Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon, offering a variety of numerous environments to grasp
- Partaking Sport Modes: Gamers can hone their dragon-riding abilities by studying to intention at targets, and transport sheep in Coaching mode, or defend the Isle of Berk from enemy dragons and showcase their fight abilities
- Personalized Experiences: Gamers can customise their gameplay expertise by choosing their favourite dragon companion, together with Toothless, Lethal Nadder, Gronckle, and extra.
“Who doesn’t wish to fly? You possibly can select a dragon. You possibly can shoot fireballs. You possibly can battle different dragons. And it’s multiplayer. Two gamers can play with co-op mode or in opposition to one another,” Kang stated in our fireplace chat at GamesBeat.
Nex Playground is a controller-free gaming console designed for households with younger youngsters, making lively, communal play extra accessible and interesting than ever. It’s the primary console for the reason that Wii and Kinect to actually take lively play to the subsequent stage, delivering a contemporary, trendy expertise constructed for household gaming. The corporate additionally simply hit a serious milestone — over 200,000 items bought since launch in early 2024.
This sport expands Nex Playground’s rising library of over 40 titles, and is the third sport launched in collaboration with Common Merchandise & Experiences after the discharge of DreamWorks Kung Fu Panda: Practice Like a Grasp in December and Gabby’s Dollhouse: A-meow-zing Strikes in February.
This immersive sport attracts youngsters and households right into a cinematic dragon-training quest simply forward of the extremely anticipated Common Footage’ live-action reimagining of DreamWorks Animation’s Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon, releasing in theatres on June 13, 2025.
“We join nearly all people, proper? We join households and mates by way of lively play. Our mission is to get folks shifting by way of lively play by way of movement,” Kang stated.
He famous that movies of children taking part in the Nex Playground present the enjoyment of motion.
The launch of Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon: Riders of the Skies marks a key second main as much as the movie’s launch by giving gamers an opportunity to expertise the high-flying, frenetic motion proper in their very own lounge.
In Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon: Riders of the Skies, gamers take flight in high-speed, movement challenges impressed by the hit franchise. With intuitive flying mechanics, gamers use the movement of their our bodies to fly, practice and journey their favourite dragons to assist defend the Isle of Berk from incoming threats. That includes single and two-player modes, this skill-based journey ensures family-friendly competitors and pleasure.
“Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon: Riders of the Skies showcases the distinctive method riders can get off the sofa and transfer their physique collectively in some fire-breathing enjoyable,” stated David Lee, CEO of Nex, in an announcement. “Quickly, gamers can expertise the Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon movie in theaters and afterwards come residence and bounce proper again into the universe with Nex Playground. Most of these moments are made doable by our continued collaboration with Common Merchandise & Experiences, who share our imaginative and prescient of household gaming.”
Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon: Riders of the Skies is the third sport launched on Nex Playground in collaboration with Common Merchandise & Experiences, following earlier releases Gabby’s Dollhouse: A-meow-zing Strikes and Kung Fu Panda Practice Like A Grasp. This partnership showcases the energy of the console’s increasing library of family-friendly video games and reinforces Nex’s dedication to delivering interactive experiences for all ages.
Followers can play Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon: Riders of the Skies completely on Nex Playground by way of Play Move – Nex Playground’s membership move that gives entry to your entire catalog of video games with no adverts.
Nex Playground is a motion-controlled gaming console that transforms dwelling rooms into interactive play areas. Tips on how to Practice Your Dragon: Riders of the Skies is one among over 40 titles accessible on the gaming system that mix movement monitoring and exact video games to get youngsters and households shifting.
Kang famous the corporate needed to increase its value from $200 to $250 due to the tariffs by the Trump administration.
Whereas the remainder of gaming goes by way of robust instances, Kang stated, “The place we glance, we really feel like we’re rising the area by way of innovation and serving markets which can be underserved. We aren’t competing in opposition to PlayStation or Xbox. We’re for teenagers and households three to 12 and fogeys who wish to do foolish issues collectively in entrance of a movement sensing gadget.”
He added, “We’re actually going after youngsters and households by introducing sports activities actions to them which can be of your age.”
The enjoyable of movement gaming goes again to Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing digicam, and it was observe up by the smash hit of the Nintendo Wii, which bought greater than 101 million items, producing $17 billion in gross income. The Wii had motion-sensing controllers, however you don’t want that with the Nex Playground. The tech is all built-in into a tool that’s just a bit larger than a Rubik’s Dice — a completely built-in gadget with a digicam and neural processing items.
“It’s all at one place, linked by way of HDMI, and your physique is the controller. No sensors wanted,” he stated.
Kang stated Nex noticed the issue of how controllers have been intimidating to gamers and that they wanted a less complicated interface. And gaming was making gamers extra sedentary, not much less, and that it was isolating.
“We wish to get youngsters and households shifting. I’ve two youngsters, 13 and 16, and I raised them with the iPad. I felt that there could possibly be a greater method. We may have leisure with a function. So this gadget actually is designed to meet that mission,” he stated.
He added, “We’re stepping right into a void created by, you realize, them main the market with higher expertise and accessible pricing.”
The corporate can guarantee belief and security for teenagers and households as a result of it has a closed platform, the place the corporate curates all the video games and it makes about 80% of the video games.
“No content material will get on the platform with out us approving it. We’re the one console that’s child protected,” he stated. “We guarantee that each piece of content material that will get on the platform suits the requirements that oldsters have authorized.”
Kang famous that Change 2 is evolving towards high-fidelity gaming, with a give attention to the Steam Deck from Valve as its most important aggressive goal. Quite than going after graphics, Kang stated, “We’re going the opposite method.”
Kang stated that the corporate has been capable of diversify its manufacturing provide, but it surely nonetheless is getting hits with tariffs. Nonetheless, he feels extra households can afford the Nex Playground than the opposite consoles. The corporate’s video games have manufacturers like Barbie, Sesame Road and Fruit Ninja.
“We’re more than happy with the efficiency and the way the video games are performing. However long run, we wish to proceed to convey each a mix of licensed IP in addition to authentic IP to the platform,” Kang stated.
About 77% of people that purchase the gadget additionally subscribe to the sport service. And after 5 weeks, 84% of the persons are nonetheless taking part in. One-year renewal has a 70% success charge. Over the last vacation season, the Nex Playground bought out at Goal, Walmart, and Greatest Purchase on Black Friday.
This 12 months, the corporate is in 6,000 shops and on first get together on Amazon.
“We’re very proud to be listed alongside very distinguished platforms now, alongside the large consoles,” Kang stated. “We’re breaking by way of.”
The corporate isn’t but going to greenlight third-party video games, however massive corporations are approaching Nex Playground to pursue the chance. Nex can also be discovering builders to make its video games.
The corporate grew gross sales about 4 instances in comparison with the previous 12 months. And Kang believes that corporations will combine cameras into TVs, and that might make the Nex Playground right into a subscription service embedded throughout the working system of the TVs. And there are 1.8 billion TV households worldwide.
The motion-sensing tech may lend itself to different functions. You may use it to regulate your TV set with voice and movement. There are different functions too. However the principle driver right this moment is video games.
The Change 2 has a digicam and it’s going for use for voice chat. However given the necessity for permission from dad and mom, Kang stated he doesn’t foresee using voice chain in Nex Playground video games. Years down the street, Kang believes you’ll have the ability to management your TV as if it have been a 65-inch iPad. It’s additionally doable there could possibly be AI apps sometime, however the firm is betting on bringing pleasure to households within the meantime.
