- Nex aims to become a leader in Trust and Safety as it launches its Playground gaming console in the UK
- The launch comes as gaming companies grapple with the Online Safety Act 2023, which includes special measures for services likely to be used by children
- President and head of international Tom Kang describes Trust and Safety as “foundational” for the company
Nex president and head of international Tom Kang has declared his company is prepared for the UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 legislation and poised to become an industry leader in Trust and Safety.
“We’re not a complaint organization, we’re a leading organization,” he told me ahead of the release of the Nex Playground gaming console in the UK.
“We’re in the process of hiring a Trust and Safety industry leader, who we’ve been consulting with for months. We want her to do research, leading stuff that will create the model of what Trust and Safety could mean. The gold standard.”
The Nex Playground is designed primarily for children between the ages of three and 12, hailing from a team led by ex-Apple designer turned Nex CEO David Lee. It features an AI-powered camera used to read the player’s movement to control fun, interactive games — including a version of baseball and a port of popular fruit-swiping mobile game Fruit Ninja.
Lee describes privacy as a “number one” concern and tells me that all video is processed directly on the device using an integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) rather than sent to the cloud. Although its custom operating system is based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), it’s completely locked-down and does not allow the installation of third-party apps.
Trust and Safety from day one
The UK launch comes as gaming companies in the region grapple with the complex legislation of the Online Safety Act 2023, which applies a duty of care to the operators of a wide range of “user-to-user” services with special measures for those that are more “likely to be accessed by children.”
Microsoft recently introduced an age verification system for users of its Xbox consoles in the UK, with a one-time check required to access the platform’s full social features such as voice and text communication.
Sony is also beginning to roll out its own age verification system for those on PlayStation, with a mandatory age check expected to access communication features later in 2026.
“It’s difficult to retrofit your business backwards, if you open the Pandora’s box and if you create all those loopholes,” argues Kang, who appears confident in Nex’s ability to meet these obligations. “We start, from day one, foundational in everything we do, as having no leaks in that bucket.”
Nex plans to roll out some online play features this year, though Lee assures me that these have been built on a “symmetric, social consent” model that necessitates mutual intent. In essence, the two players will need to input unique codes from each other in order to connect.
“No stranger can actually do that,” says Lee. “Even after that, there’s no video or sound or text.”
UK pre-orders for the Nex Playground start on May 18 for £269 and will be available at Amazon, Argos, and Smyths Toys.
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dash.wood@futurenet.com (Dashiell Wood)
