Xbox was outsold by a little-known Kinect-style console during Black Friday

Xbox hardware was outsold by a little-known Kinect-style console during Black Friday week in the US, coming fourth.

That’s according to Circana data shared on social media, which suggests that the family console Nex Playground took 14% of the market for the week ended November 29.

As in the UK, PlayStation 5 dominated Black Friday week hardware sales, accounting for 47%, which was likely driven by discounts. Nintendo Switch 2 ranked second with 24%, meaning Xbox took less than 14%.

Nex Playground is an Android-powered console launched in 2023, which features a motion camera similar to Microsoft’s axed sensor, Kinect. The console features family games, such as Fruit Ninja, and retails for $250, but is regularly discounted to under $200.

The Playground has been quietly growing in popularity in the US market and even briefly outsold PlayStation 5 in the week before Black Friday (ended November 22).

In a GamesIndustry.biz feature, Journalist Rob Fahey this month called NEX Playground “a smart play for an industry blind spot”.

“Nex Playground’s stroke of genius really lies in taking one of Nintendo‘s foundational ideas – building cheap, accessible, robust devices using dated hardware and a philosophy that’s more toy-maker than tech giant – and using it to wedge itself into a market segment that other platform holders have either abandoned or simply forgotten about.”

PlayStation 5 was the big winner of Black Friday 2025 in the UK, with the console taking 62% of the console market during the week. Xbox Series S and X accounted for 10% of the market during Black Friday week. Nintendo Switch 2 took a 23% share.

In the UK, the standard PS5 console was priced 21% lower compared to two weeks previously, while the Digital version was 34% lower. PS5 Pro, which was on sale at an all-time low price, had its best week outside of its launch, according to NielsenIQ data.