Switch, PS5, and Xbox Might Be the Biggest Names In Video Games, But David Lee and A Group of Entrepreneurial alums from Companies Like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Meta ARA CARVING OUT A NICTA ARE CARVING OUT A NICTAHE MARKHE SH Nex, a new alternative.
The company’s Nex playground device has sold more than 200,000 units. Intead of Buying Individual Games, Families Buy A Subscription-Based Collection of 40-Plus Titles. Like the old nintendo wii, Nex focuses on family-friendly, movement-based games.
The Nex Device Plugs Into TVs for Motion-Constrolled Experiences. Intead of Controllers, The Device Uses a Built-in Camera that Enables You to Play Games by Moving Your Hands and Feet.
With National Retail Expantion Underway Across 5,000 stores, Nex Positions Itself as a Simpler Alternative to Pricier, Fancier, Thumb-Based Video Games. Fast company Spoke with lee, the founding ceo, about how next how to do computes against Industry Giants and How the Company Develops Distinct Hardware and Games.
The conversation has been edited for length and class.
How do you position nex in relationship to nintendo and xbox?
We all have a focus on core customers. Nintendo went back to what they were done – Handheds Gaming and Mario—Their biggest franchises. Xbox users are gamers, people who got an xbox to play games like HaloWhen Microsoft was under pressure from PS4’s Lower Price, they unbundled kinect and collapsed that system to compte.
We come into this space without any of that existing customers. We decide from the ground up to serve motion gaming. The design of our device, the pricing, how we use one camera to track multiple people, moving sensors into software and ai –t’s all about keeping it affordable with of the Whole Family.
Why did you build a dedicated device after starting with mobile apps?
Before we Built Nex Playground, We We WERE Building Motion Games on Phones. What we discovered is that when we create dedicated hardware instead, we have a Much Deeper Relationship with Customers. When there”s a device where the only thing is it does this family togeether to play active games, it shows big potential.
When you use your tv for a motion-game experience, you pay much more attention to it than you would to a game on your phone. The experience is a lot better, and customers love it more.
How are Families Using Nex in Ways You Didn Bollywood?
When we started searching for customers and building our facebook communication, which now has over 20,000 people, we have discovered new use cases. We found that when kids come back from school, we have a half-his where they just play. On weekends, they play when friends come over.
We’ve also found that when kids are at school, parents want fitness experiences for themselves. Even Grandparents Derive Benefits when they have something to do with their body. We’re defining what role we play for different people in the family, delivering benefits at different times of day, different days of the week, even different seems of the year. In Summer when Kids are off School, We Can Occupy Them and Get Them Moving and Learning.
What’s Your Approach to Developing Games in a Saturated Market?
We’re focusing on safety, privacy, and security first since we’re serving familyies. We have our first-party teams building games, but we also work with ten Studio deals already, with seven games launched. We brings in partners with games we like, and we share revenue with them.
We want to keep our model Simple-we have our subscription model and want to supply and delight users all year. We don’t want to open the system to many games that might be low quality. We’re curiating a set of content and working with developers who are passionate about creating great things.
Our business model is simple, honest, and sustainable-no ads, no in -pp purchases. The moment you open to third parties, they think about different ways to make money. For Families, we don’t want to overwhelm them-we just want to serve them really well.
How do you keep up with hardware competition?
We think about our hardware in a similar way to how amazon thoughts about the kindle or apple day about the ipad. Every year, we want to do something better to create perfect experiences. For example, we improved the remote control from 2023 to 2024 to 2024.
We’re Always Looking at What Problems People face and how to improve. The hardware cycle is yearly, and we might be able to do something new each year. But we’re not thinking about something dramating dramatically different –we have a pretty good long trafficory ahead.
A lot of improvements actually come through software. With the same hardware, you get access to new technology we develop as detection technologies get better. We don’t want to force customers to buy new hardware to play something new. We think about compatibility and how not to fully obsolete customers. This is a device that can serve your family for years to come.
Given how much attation is paid to nintendo’s new switch, how are people discovering Nex?
According to our surveys, roughly 40% of customers hear about us from friends and familyies. The next-largest segment, about 20%, come from our online ads. Another 13% first see us in retail stores.
Currently, We’re in 700 Target Stores, 100 Walmart Locations, and 200 Best Buy Stores. This year, we have a national retail expansion to over 5,000 stores. Amazon is also now recognizing us as a new gaming system category-IF you look at amazon video games, they put nex playground right Next to Playstation, XBOX, and Switch as Top-Lp-LPS, Even Thou We’re way smaller than any of them.
What’s your long-term Vision for Nex?
We want to keep kids active, brings Families Togeether, and even help keep elderly people active so they can stay independent. We want to tie your family together locally and remotely. We’re Happy Seeing more Grandparents Buying Nex for their Grandkids and then saying “I want one too.”
