Sony Interactive Entertainment, the gaming subsidiary of Sony Group Corp., is currently developing a new handheld console that features support for PlayStation 5 games. The news, which stems from Bloomberg’s sources, is said to be aimed at expanding Sony’s reach in the gaming market, designed to compete with not only the Nintendo Switch (and, presumably, its successor), but Microsoft’s future Xbox handheld—a new piece of hardware that Phil Spencer recently confirmed was in the early stages of development. The PlayStation Portal, an 8-inch handheld that allows users to stream PS5 games, was released by Sony in 2023 and remains available for $199.99.
Building a mobile device that’s capable of directly playing PS5 games would potentially make Sony’s software more accessible and appealing to a wider audience. The company has taken several steps in recent times in that direction, including making a bigger push into mobile and PC gaming as well as live-service titles.
Discussion (7 replies)
Join Discussion →So is this a successor to the PS Vita, with its own games as well as PS5 game support, or is this just a way to play PS5 games in a handheld form-factor without having to stream them?
I can't imagine they currently have a mobile package of direct play for PS5 titles so I'm betting cloud service like GeForce Now. I could be wrong and if so I'm really curious how.
Wouldn't that be the portal in that case?
Just read a little more on VideoCardz and they're saying native play. I'm shocked.
Honestly... I'm not. With how far APU's have come being able to run games on what... 4 generations old of GPU's in a hand held isn't a very far reach, and by the time it actually launches? 5, maybe 6 gens old? yea I think they can comfortably forecast this. ESPEICALLY if it's running at 1080p. Maybe even 1440p on a tiny screen where texture quality will honestly mean jack shit. Just upscale the crap out of it and people won't be able to reliably tell for sure.
I was actually just thinking the same before reading this. Set to 1080p upscaled from 720p on a small screen where the PPI compensates for the difference in perceived quality.
I'd be up for this - really like how my ROG Ally complements PC gaming for me (cloud saving makes it easy to switch from device to device). Combine that with the rock solid stability of a Playstation console - that would make for a great time.
I think MS would be at a bit of an advantage development-wise (due to their lower powered Series S profile), however, I bet a APU in a couple of years would be ready to power PS5 titles (at a lower fidelity/resolution).