Earlier this year, we announced that we are working on a Connected Play feature that would enable safe Playground-to-Playground connection and virtual play. As our team is working hard to build out this feature, we wanted to share an update and encourage you to get involved!

What is Connected Play?

We approached the idea of online play as conscientious parents first. 

How can we connect with friends and family through active play when we are apart? What can we build to offer our kids safer options to play online?

Where are we now?

This is the exciting part for our team, sharing what we have been working on!

It all starts with a Trusted Connection. 

Two Playgrounds will be able to connect through a passcode-protected Family Tools feature. These Trusted Connections will not have video, voice, or text communication. 

Creating a Trusted Connection.‍

We’ve spent a lot of time talking with families about the Trusted Connection experience. The number one piece of feedback was clear: Connected Play should always be opt-in and never introduced or enabled without adult consent.

That feedback directly shaped how we are designing the experience.

The first step is introducing a password-protected Family Tools section within PlayOS Settings. 

To create a Trusted Connection, both Playgrounds must have active Play Pass subscriptions. Connections are established through a mutual authentication process that ensures both sides explicitly approve the relationship in real time.

Once logged in, an adult can create a Trusted Connection by sharing a secure code with another adult logged into their Play Pass account. After both adults authenticate and approve the connection, Connected Play features become available between those trusted accounts.

Families will also be able to view, manage, and remove Trusted Connections at any time through Family Tools.

Connected Play is designed to be intentional, adult-controlled, and available only when families actively choose it.

Virtual Playdates

Our first feature within Connected Play is called “Playdate”—a live, virtual play session between two Trusted Playgrounds. We will launch Playdate with 3 games andTennis Smash: Racketville will be the first game that we will use for testing and feedback in the beta program this summer (details below).

Scoreboard‍

Scoreboard is a Connected Play feature designed for friendly family-vs-family asynchronous challenges.

Families can opt in to shared events centered on a few of our games. Once the event begins, each household can compare its scores and standings with those of other Trusted Connections.

The experience also includes playful mascots whose expressions respond to how each family performs throughout the event.

Like all Connected Play features, Scoreboard is fully opt-in and designed around Trusted Connections.

What Is To Come

Our community involvement is at the heart of how we are building Connected Play, and we want to ensure family voices help shape the experience from the very beginning. 

In August, we will begin rolling out a beta program for community members to test Connected Play and share candid feedback. If you are interested in joining the beta or receiving updates as development continues, sign up for our Connected Play email list below.

At Nex, trust, safety, and privacy are foundational to every experience we create. Connected Play is being designed with those expectations at the center from day one.

This feature will undergo extensive testing, community feedback, and ongoing iteration before a wider release. 

We are excited to build this alongside our community and look forward to hearing your feedback throughout the beta process later this summer.