SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 22, 2026--
Nex, the company behind Nex Playground, the active play system that gets families moving together, today introduced the nostalgic title Freefall Racers to its Play Pass catalog. Originally developed by Smoking Gun Interactive for the Xbox Kinect in 2013, the game is making a generational comeback over a decade later, revamped and optimized for its new home on Nex Playground.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260722774601/en/
In Freefall Racers, players suit up as adventurous flying squirrels, racing through colorful skies, weaving through obstacles, soaring around tight turns, and chasing victory across imaginative courses. Using motion-based technology on Nex Playground, players can lean, dodge, and steer through each race seamlessly, transforming movement into fast-paced competition that gets the whole family off the couch and into the action.
The Nex Playground version builds on the original experience with gameplay enhancements designed specifically for today's families, including:
"Some games may be ahead of their time," said David Lee, CEO and co-founder of Nex. "Freefall Racers has always had an incredibly fun core concept, and using motion technology on Nex Playground finally allows that vision to shine for families. It's a perfect example of how great gameplay can find new life on the right platform with the right audience, and we're excited to welcome it to Nex Playground."
"We are thrilled to bring Freefall Racers to Nex Playground! We can’t wait for families to meet our zany flying squirrel crew and start soaring down unique landscapes,” said Jacob Barrows, Studio Head of Smoking Gun Interactive. “With three distinct speed classes and many tracks, cups, and characters to unlock, there is a perfect experience for every racer, whether you’re just starting out or aiming for gold in every race. Freefall Racers will be flying onto your Nex Playground on July 22nd!"
Players can take flight exclusively on Nex Playground through Play Pass, the content subscription service that unlocks the full catalog of games and experiences on Nex Playground. Bringing Freefall Racers to Play Pass reflects Nex's commitment to growing its catalog of active-play experiences while creating new opportunities for developers to reach family audiences. By making games available through a continually expanding subscription catalog, Nex helps connect players with new experiences while giving standout motion-controlled titles a new home. Play Pass is sold separately and can be added at any time. To learn more, visit nexplayground.com.
About Nex
Nex is on a mission to connect families and friends through active play. Created by parents for parents, Nex combines technology and play to deliver fun, social, and interactive experiences powered by natural body motion. Its award-winning active play system, Nex Playground, is the only controller-free console built specifically for kids and families with safety and privacy at the core of its design. Nex Playground is kidSAFE+ COPPA compliant and a member of the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) in the U.S. In the U.K., Nex Playground aligns with GDPR requirements, earning PEGI 3 age ratings on the included starter bundle. Motion-tracking data and processing stay local to the device, and every system includes a built-in camera cover.
Nex Playground with Play Pass features a growing catalog of 60+ active games, from sports to dance, fitness, and educational experiences, including Nex Originals and collaborations with partners such as Paramount, Hasbro, Sesame Workshop, and NBCUniversal. Nex has been recognized by Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, TIME’s Best Inventions, and Parents’ Best Entertainment System for Families, and has earned Red Dot, IDEA, and Core77 international design awards.
Nex Playground is available at Amazon, Best Buy®, Target®, Walmart®, and Sam’s Club® online and select retail stores in the U.S. and Canada, and is available in the U.K. and Republic of Ireland at Amazon U.K., Argos, and Smyths Toys. To learn more, visit nexplayground.com or follow the company on Instagram and Facebook.
About Smoking Gun Interactive
Located in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia, Smoking Gun Interactive (SGI) is an industry-leading game development studio focused on creating world-class titles that engage and entertain audiences across the globe. The studio was founded in 2007 by the award-winning industry veterans and creative forces behind Company of Heroes™, regarded as one of the greatest real-time strategy games of all time. Best known for hit titles such as Age of Empires: Castle Siege and Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Smoking Gun prides itself on innovative gameplay and engaging experiences that push the boundaries across a diverse range of genres. To learn more about us, please visit our website at www.smokingguninc.com.
In Freefall Racers, players suit up as adventurous flying squirrels, racing through colorful skies, weaving through obstacles, soaring around tight turns, and chasing victory across imaginative courses.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump has warned Iran that the U.S. will destroy one bridge or power plant each time Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
In his warning on social media, the president returned to earlier threats to target civilian infrastructure in retaliation for Iranian attacks. It comes as strikes have escalated on both sides, leaving an interim deal to end the war in tatters.
“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT,” Trump wrote on social media.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States on Wednesday carried out another wave of strikes on Iran, where air defenses opened fire over the capital, Tehran. Iran launched a missile attack on a Jordanian city on Israel’s doorstep, and alerts were issued in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
The 11th night of American airstrikes on Iran came as diplomatic efforts have shown little public sign of progress. Officials on both sides have dug in on their dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy that remains largely closed because of Iranian attacks.
Iran has avoided striking Israel since hostilities resumed last month, apparently hoping to keep it from reentering the war. But the missile and drone attack on Jordan’s city of Aqaba, within sight of Israel’s Eilat, raised concerns over a further widening of the conflict after an agreement to halt hostilities collapsed.
The closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and gas passed during peacetime, has jolted the world economy with effects far beyond the Middle East. A new threat by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen to target Saudi shipping in the Red Sea puts another trade chokepoint at risk.
Benchmark Brent crude oil rose to around $94 a barrel in trading, and gasoline prices are once again climbing ahead of U.S. midterm elections this fall.
Jordan’s military said it intercepted four Iranian missiles over Aqaba, while two others fell in “uninhabited areas.” Plumes of smoke could be seen overhead in videos filmed by people in the nearby Israeli city of Eilat. Jordan said it also intercepted four Iranian drones.
Another missile alert sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia warned residents of the Persian Gulf city of Dammam to seek shelter. Saudi authorities later said the danger had passed, without elaborating.
The U.S. military said earlier Wednesday that it had completed an 11th night of strikes on Iran, with targets including aircraft hangars and drone storage sites.
Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported explosions across several provinces. Iran's Health Ministry says U.S. strikes over the past 11 days have killed 53 people, including six women and three children, and wounded nearly 600 people.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted its retaliatory attacks would continue.
Before the latest strikes, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revive diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Interior Ministry spokesman Ali Zeinivand said “diplomacy isn’t called off” and that messages were still being exchanged, without elaborating, according to IRNA.
At a regional summit in the Philippines, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced Iran’s actions in the strait.
“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” he said.
In response to Iran’s attacks, the U.S. re-imposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump gave a dim view on possible talks, saying the U.S. had “no interest in meeting.”
He signaled that U.S. forces could soon target an under-construction Iranian nuclear site buried deep under a mountain.
The site, known as Pickaxe Mountain, lies on the south side of Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site, which was bombed by the U.S. during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in 2025. But Pickaxe Mountain has remained untouched as Iran continues to dig at the site.
Iran has always insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, while resuming the enrichment of uranium to near weapons-grade levels since Trump scrapped a 2015 nuclear deal during his first term. The U.S. and others believe Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003 and may reconstitute it in the future.
Binkley reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Bassem Mroue in Beirut, and Michelle L. Price and Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press conference on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP)
