When we covered the announcement of the Neo Geo AES+ a few weeks ago, the question hanging over the whole thing was a simple one: would anyone actually buy it? The Neo Geo has always had a dedicated following, but dedicated followings don’t always translate into sales numbers that move production lines. It turns out the answer is yes — emphatically, and faster than Plaion or Embracer appear to have expected.
In a LinkedIn post, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors confirmed that within the first 24 hours of preorders opening, the Neo Geo AES+ had taken more paid orders than the entire annual sales forecast for the console. The console went to number one on Amazon US across the entire Video Games category. Wingefors described the response as “nothing short of overwhelming” and confirmed that production forecasts have now been revised upwards ahead of the November 12 launch.
What’s Being Built
The Neo Geo AES+ is a hardware recreation of the original 1990 AES home console, developed by Plaion in collaboration with SNK. The key detail — and the thing that separates it from the wave of mini consoles that have arrived over the past decade — is that it uses custom ASIC chips rather than FPGA or software emulation. FPGA developer Jotego (José Tejada Gómez), who has been openly confirmed as involved in the project, explained at the Retrópolis 2026 event that the ASIC approach was chosen specifically to keep costs down for mass production and to ensure the console runs natively at 5V — which is what makes full compatibility with original Neo Geo AES cartridges possible.
That compatibility matters. If you already own original AES carts, the AES+ will play them. The console also includes HDMI output at up to 1080p, an AV output for CRT use, on-screen DIP switch controls, and territory switching. Jotego has separately confirmed that input lag will be virtually zero — comparable to the original hardware and the MiSTer FPGA implementation, and noticeably better than software emulation.
What You Can Play On It
Ten games are available at launch, each as a physical cartridge at £69.99. The launch lineup includes Metal Slug, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, The King of Fighters ’98, Neo Turf Masters, Windjammers, and several others. A white Anniversary Edition bundle is also available, which includes an ice white console, arcade stick, memory card, and a white Metal Slug cartridge that won’t be sold separately.
Wingefors confirmed that the initial ten games are described as the “first” to come out of the deal with SNK — implying more AES re-releases are planned. Jotego also mentioned, in a separate interview, that Plaion has at least one other console project in development, though he declined to give details.
The Value Question
We’ve already covered the SNK/Saudi Arabia ownership question in a separate piece — that remains a relevant conversation and one that reasonable people land on differently. Setting that aside, the value proposition of the hardware itself is unusual for this kind of release.
The AES+ is priced at £179.99 / $249.99. Physical cartridges are £69.99 each. For context, an original Metal Slug AES cartridge currently trades for around $3,200 on the secondhand market. The ten launch games, purchased as originals, would cost somewhere in the region of $12,000. At £69.99 a cartridge, the new releases are expensive by the standards of modern gaming but effectively repricing a notoriously inaccessible library for the first time in 35 years.
Whether that’s compelling depends on how much the physical cartridge and original hardware experience matters to you. If it doesn’t, Evercade offers Neo Geo titles at around £3.57 per game. If it does, the AES+ is currently the only game in town.
The Neo Geo AES+ launches on 12th November 2026. Preorders are available via Plaion’s own store and Amazon. For more background, see our The Neo Geo AES Is Back — And This Time You Can Actually Afford One.