The Rise of Home AI Games: Nex Secures $150 Million Investment, Millions of Consoles Are OEM-manufactured by Skyworth Digital
"Families have timeless needs: movement, growth, connection and fun."
Home AI games are on the rise.
Recently, Nex has secured $150 million in investment, and sales of its family-focused motion-sensing game console Nex Playground have exceeded 1 million units.
While announcing the financing, Nex announced that it has hired Jeff Shouger, a veteran from Niantic (previously worked at Niantic and Zynga), to serve as Chief Financial Officer, and appointed Shouger and Bing Gordon, a veteran of the gaming and technology industries, as new members of the company's board of directors.
This Series E round of financing is co-led by Baillie Gifford and BAI Capital, with participation from NBA Investments, Logitech, Medici Capital Partners and Raine Group.The Nex team has also secured a new credit facility with JPMorgan Chase.
Over the past 18 months, the subscriber base of Nex Playground has grown sevenfold, currently approaching 1 million active subscribers. Nex expects to cross this milestone by the end of this year.
Following this financing, Nex Playground will continue to expand in Europe and Asia, and the funds will also be used for inventory, supply chain and go-to-market promotion plans.
It is worth noting that with the support of AI technology, home motion-sensing games are experiencing a renaissance. Nex has verified new demand for home motion-sensing experiences, and there is also a group of motion-sensing AI game players in China.
Home motion-sensing games are becoming the "home AI interaction entrance", a new type of home device that integrates home entertainment, sports fitness, children's companionship and AI interaction. Compared with traditional motion-sensing games, the new generation of AI motion-sensing products do not have controllers and are easier to get started. They aim to enable family members to exercise, interact and learn together.
01
Sales exceed 1 million units, with over 7,000 sales outlets
Nex introduced in this financing press release that sales of Nex Playground have exceeded 1 million units.
Nex was founded under the leadership of David Lee (Li Jinghui), a Hong Kong native, who worked at Apple for 8 years,previously served as Senior Engineering Manager of the iWork cloud version, and reported directly to Steve Jobs. In 2017, he left Apple and co-founded Nex in Silicon Valley with two other former Apple colleagues.
Initially, the company mainly developed motion-sensing applications based on computer vision and AI technology (such as HomeCourt, an AI basketball training app). After David Lee became a father, he hoped to create products that could enhance parent-child interaction, turning the "sedentary and isolated" screen time into a time for the whole family to "move together", and the motion-sensing game console Nex Playground was thus born.
Behind the surge in sales is that Nex quickly built trust among parents and children with the characters that children are most familiar with.Among them, the CEO personally flew to secure the authorization of top children's IP "Bluey", which became a key turning point — after the game was launched, sales rose sharply, and even sold out across the United States directly on Black Friday 2024.
Nex Playground currently has 60 games, including globally renowned IPs and characters such as Bluey, Barbie, Kung Fu Panda and Peppa Pig, with experiences covering music, sports, fitness, parties and learning.The game lineup will continue to expand this fall and holiday season, adding new titles such as "NFL Flag", "Dude Perfect Trickshot Challenge", and "PAC-MAN" in collaboration with Bandai Namco Entertainment.
At present, Nex Playground has been sold in more than 7,000 retail outlets in the United States, including Costco, Sam's Club, Target, Walmart and Best Buy.
According to Nex, the company plans to launch a "connected play" feature that allows family members to play together across households and distances on this fitness-focused game console.
Under the leadership of CEO David Lee, Nex also plans to expand in Europe and Asia, having previously expanded to Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Nex will enter the German market later this year, and plans to enter Japan and South Korea in 2027.
It is understood that Nex said the launch performance in the UK market "exceeded expectations, which is a good sign".
It is worth noting that Skyworth Digital (000810.SZ), a listed Chinese company, has a deep cooperative relationship with Nex Playground, and Skyworth Digital holds the exclusive global production right for Nex Playground.The cooperation between the two sides began in 2023, in which Skyworth Digital mainly provides 4K ultra-HD display technology and AI intelligent hardware solutions, while Nex provides AI software and game content.
According to Skyworth Digital's financial report, the company's operating revenue in the first half of 2026 was 5.37 billion yuan, up 31.2% year on year; among them, the NexPlayground motion-sensing game box launched by the company in cooperation with American game company Nex performed prominently in the North American market, achieving a year-on-year revenue increase of 63.12% during the reporting period.
According to the financial report, one of Skyworth Digital's main businesses is intelligent terminals (intelligent set-top boxes, motion-sensing intelligent game boxes, smart mid-screens, broadband network connection equipment, XR solutions and smart glasses, cloud PCs, etc.), which accounted for 81.92% of revenue in the first half of 2026. In the first half of 2026, this business segment achieved operating revenue of 4.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52.45%, which is the core engine driving the company's performance growth.As a product with "outstanding sales performance" in this segment, the growth of Nex Playground is one of the important driving forces for the overall business recovery.
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Can be used in classrooms or hospitals, more scenarios to be explored
It is worth noting that in addition to home scenarios, motion-sensing devices like Nex Playground can also be applied in education scenarios, medical rehabilitation scenarios and more. There are many such cases on Nex's official website.
Educators are constantly looking for innovative ways to engage students with limited resources. Tracy Carroll, a teacher in the United States at Hoover Middle School, faced limited resources and did her utmost to provide creative methods to make learning fun and memorable.
After seeing how integrating Nex Playground into daily family life naturally brings people together, Tracy Carroll began to imagine what the same experience would be like for her students and how it could motivate their learning in the classroom.
With the support of DonorsChoose.org and The Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation, Tracy brought two sets of Nex Playground systems to her school. She led the children to exercise, learn and laugh together with Nex Playground.
Motion-sensing games are not only suitable for children who can run and jump, but can also allow students with physical disabilities to participate in classroom activities through movement adjustment and participation method design.
In the case, Tracy Carroll can use Nex Playground to create a space for natural interaction for students of all abilities. By projecting the console onto the classroom, the school opens up a new level of collaborative play. Students can immerse themselves in games such as Bowling: Strike!, Basketball Knockout and Goalie — moving, laughing, and fully engaged in the experience.
Beyond the excitement, something else is taking shape. Tracy noticed that her students are developing important social and academic skills in real time: problem solving, practicing teamwork, and engaging in collaborative play.
The same approach can also be used in hospitals.
According to Nex, hospitals have introduced Nex Playground into wards, playrooms and rehabilitation spaces for a simple reason: it keeps patients engaged.
Movement-based games allow patients and their families to find a focus beyond daily care. It requires no prior gaming or technical experience; it is easy to use with no learning curve; and it encourages participation to help patients and their families relax. It is suitable for patients whether they are sitting, using only one hand, or staying in bed.
And this approach works for all types of roles. Child life specialists, physical/occupational therapy teams, nurses and family members do not need special training to assist children in playing the games.
It can be seen that the imaginative space for motion-sensing games goes far beyond this. A small device paired with a TV can unlock infinite possibilities.
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"Families have timeless needs"
David Lee mentioned, "Families have timeless needs: movement, growth, connection and fun.The market response to Nex Playground shows us that motion-sensing games can meet these needs at a meaningful scale."
He said: "We are building Nex into a century-old enterprise. This investment gives us the resources to bring motion-sensing games to millions more families around the world, and Jeff and Bing have extraordinary experience in building enduring gaming and technology companies. I am thrilled that they are joining us for the next chapter."
Alexander Nicolier, private enterprise investor at Baillie Gifford, added: "Through motion-sensing games, Nex is proving that the family living room can once again become a place full of laughter, entertainment and togetherness."
"This console makes it extremely easy for families to get up and move, and the growing library of games via subscriptions gives Nex the opportunity to build lasting relationships with them. As long-term investors, this combination is particularly exciting: the companies we support can continue to delight customers while compounding value over many years. This is rare in the gaming industry.
In the past two years, with the support of AI technology, home motion-sensing games have seen a renaissance. Today, AI vision, camera and chip technologies have lowered the hardware threshold, allowing products to realize gaming, fitness and interactive experiences through simple motion recognition.
At the same time, players have expanded from traditional gaming giants Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft to emerging companies such as Nex (Nex Playground), Tangible Play (Osmo) and Meta (Quest), covering scenarios such as living room gaming, home fitness, children's companionship and VR experiences.
There are also a number of motion-sensing AI game enterprises in mainland China.FitX, which was interviewed by Duozhi, is a typical one that has previously secured millions of dollars in investment. At the same time, Liu Dan, a gaming veteran who participated in and led the development of QQ Pet and Battle of the Gods, has also launched a family game box called Youdoo Box. In terms of landing scenarios, Liu Dan and his team define it as an "AI motion-sensing growth console" and sports terminal for teenagers aged 3-12 and their families.
In the future, the focus of competition in this industry may be who can become the AI interaction entrance that families use every day. Its boundaries will also expand from games to scenarios such as physical education, special education, rehabilitation training, and children's companionship.
This article is from the WeChat official account"Duozhi Wang" (ID: duozhiwang), author: Wang Shang, published with authorization from 36Kr.