Nex Playground is on sale in North America and headed to Japan in 2027. The company has set up a Japanese subsidiary and lined up Sega and Bandai Namco titles for the region this fall.
Nex Playground is a controller-free console. A built-in camera and on-device motion tracking, with no cloud processing, let players control games by moving their bodies. That hardware description comes from the Tokyo Game Show 2026 announcement that Nex has established Nex Japan LLC and appointed Emiko Yamamoto as its general manager. Yamamoto previously worked at Sega, Walt Disney Japan, and Amazon Games.
In the US, the console has been on sale since late 2023. It is carried at more than 7,000 retail stores, costs $299 with five games included, and offers the Play Pass subscription at $49 for three months or $89 for a year. Nex raised more than $150 million (about 23.53 billion yen) through investor capital and a new credit facility with JPMorgan. The company says hardware has sold over 1 million units worldwide and expects Play Pass subscribers to pass 1 million within the year, after roughly sevenfold growth in 18 months. Nex also reported third place in US console hardware unit sales in November 2025, behind PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2.
Japan is treated as its own content problem, not a porting job. Yamamoto said the Japanese lineup will differ from the US one, and Nex is developing content with Japanese IP and a Japanese developer. About 10 games with Japanese IP are in the works across four in-house studios and 15 partner studios worldwide. Ahead of the 2027 Japan launch, Sega will release Sonic Forces: Rival Rush and Bandai Namco Entertainment will release Pac-Man in Japan this fall. Nex is also planning a South Korea release in 2027.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself
sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every
fact links the story it came from.
Facts
- Release
- game · 2027 · Japan · 2026-10-03
- Release
- game · late 2023 · North America · 2026-10-03
- Noted
- camera-based console played by moving your body with no controller · 2026-09-18
- Noted
- no text chat, voice chat, or video calling; friend requests need parent approval; physical lens cover included · 2026-09-18
- Noted
- motion footage is processed on-device, not in the cloud · 2026-09-18
- Noted
- Japanese specifications and content may differ · 2026-09-18
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CC BY 4.0.
Oct 3
Nex will launch its controller-free console Nex Playground in Japan in 2027, the company said at Tokyo Game Show 2026. The device uses a built-in camera and on-device motion tracking, with no cloud processing, so players control games by moving their bodies. Nex has established a Japanese subsidiary, Nex Japan LLC, and appointed Emiko Yamamoto as its general manager. Yamamoto previously worked at Sega, Walt Disney Japan, and Amazon Games. Ahead of the Japan launch, Sega will release Sonic Forces: Rival Rush and Bandai Namco Entertainment will release Pac-Man in Japan this fall. The console has been on sale in North America since late 2023 and is sold at more than 7,000 retail stores there. In the US, the unit costs $299 with five games included, and the Play Pass subscription is $49 for three months or $89 for a year.
Sep 18
Nex, the company behind the controller-free console Nex Playground, said on September 17, 2026, that it has raised more than $150 million (about 23.53 billion yen) through investor capital and a new credit facility with JPMorgan. The hardware has sold over 1 million units worldwide, and Nex expects Play Pass subscribers, which have grown roughly sevenfold in 18 months, to pass 1 million within the year. More than 7,000 U.S. retail stores carry the console, and Nex reported to Tokyo Game Show 2026 that it took third place in U.S. console hardware unit sales in November 2025, behind PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2. The company, which showed the hardware at Makuhari Messe, plans a Japan release in 2027, alongside South Korea, and is developing about 10 games with Japanese IP at four in-house studios and 15 partner studios worldwide.