It’s interesting to see how releasing a device that “no one wants” suddenly turns into a major seller and then the company decides they should do more. The device I’m referring to is of course the PlayStation Portal, which has exceeded sales expectations and is the catalyst for why Sony is developing a new PlayStation Handheld according to Bloomberg. Mind you, there were rumors that PlayStation was actively developing a PlayStation handheld since early 2024. It’s just now, we’re getting some possible proof that this is happening.
Citing people familiar with its development, the device is continuing on the success of the PlayStation Portal by having the new PlayStation Handheld bring in more potential players and also directly compete with Nintendo and with a potential device from Microsoft’s Xbox as well.
Sony’s portable device is likely years away from launch and the company could still decide against bringing it to market the people said, asking not to be named discussing private plans.
Competition in the Space for a Potential PlayStation Handheld
Microsoft’s Gaming CEO Phil Spencer also stated the words “years away” in an interview with Bloomberg in relation to a most likely similar Xbox handheld. However, unlike with Phil Spencer, there are no further details on what features a new PlayStation Handheld would include. The prospect of having native PlayStation 5 games sounds amazing but would it even be possible without having a price range that’s similar to that of their home console?
Undoubtedly, with Nintendo’s Switch successor due to release some time in 2025 and Nintendo confirming that it will be compatible with current Switch games the clock is ticking for Sony to have this new PlayStation Handheld Device sooner rather than later.
The quote above leaves some room for uncertainty with the “could still decide against bringing it to market” part. Considering how quickly Sony abandoned support of its previous portable consoles, particularly the PlayStation Vita, it doesn’t inspire much faith any current PlayStation Handheld wouldn’t suffer the same fate. Not to mention, the proliferation of various portable PC devices like Valve’s Steam Deck may also make this a much more crowded market for another potentially expensive device to enter.
To be fair, these are just initial reports and if this is actually happening, there’s a lot of development time left ahead for this new PlayStation Handheld. The biggest question of all is when would this even be released? During the PS5 lifecycle? Or would it be an extra SKU for an upcoming PlayStation 6?
For now, the PlayStation Portal does exist and most recently Sony added cloud streaming support for the device as well.
