What you need to know
- A report from Bloomberg indicates that Sony is in the early stages of working on a PlayStation gaming handheld.
- This handheld is meant to provide an option to play PlayStation 5 games on the go, and is still years away from being released.
- Sony has worked on handheld devices before, including the popular PSP and the ill-supported PS Vita.
- Microsoft is also working on a handheld Xbox of some kind, and this company's offering is similarly years away from launching.
All three major console platform holders are working on handheld devices.
That's according to a report from Bloomberg, which indicates that Sony is early in development on a new gaming handheld that's meant to play PlayStation 5 games. This new device is "years" away from arriving, and it's possible it could be canceled before ever reaching full production. The report notes that Sony originally intended the PlayStation Portal to be a handheld device that could natively play games, before instead pivoting the device's direction.
The PlayStation Portal allows PlayStation 5 owners to stream games from their console to the handheld, with testing recently opening up for direct Cloud gaming. The device cannot play games natively however, meaning that unlike something like the ASUS ROG Ally, Steam Deck, or Nintendo Switch, a strong, consistent internet connection is required.
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Handhelds are exciting, but we'll be waiting a while
This comes as Microsoft and Nintendo are also working on handheld devices. The latter is widely expected to be announcing and launching its successor to the uber-popular Nintendo Switch sometime in the coming months. Meanwhile, the former's confirmation is far more recent, with Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer recently confirming that an Xbox handheld is in development, but (like PlayStation's possible handheld) is years away from launching.
Sony has prior experience with gaming handhelds, crafting the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and the PS Vita. While the PSP found a good degree of success, the Vita struggled, lacking significant first-party support past its first year, a problem that has more recently plagued the PlayStation VR2 headset.
Both Microsoft and Sony are seeking to expand their audience by making new pushes into Cloud gaming. Microsoft recently launched its long-promised feature that allows Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to enjoy games they've bought through Cloud gaming, though the program is limited to 50 games for now.
For my tastes, any Xbox or PlayStation handhelds will face the same challenges of making sure an ecosystem feels consistent. If there's exceptions or specific games that can't be played on the hardware, they'll end up feeling like branded Steam Decks.
