Summary
A brand-newPlayStationhandheld console capable of running games natively is reportedly in the early stages of development at Sony. The rumoredPlayStationdevice could be the first standalone handheld released by the tech giant since the PS Vita, initially released in 2011.
There’s been a growing interest from manufacturers in making gaming handhelds following the fruitful launch of Valve’s Steam Deck in 2022. In the past couple of years, the industry has seen major tech companies, such as Asus and Lenovo, release their unique takes with the ROG Ally and the Legion Go, respectively. These PC gaming handhelds have competed in the space alongside the more streamlined Nintendo Switch, the current uncrowned king of gaming handhelds in terms of sales. If the latest leak is to be believed, another challenger may join these products at some point in the future, with along-rumored PlayStation handheldunderstood to be in the works.
The progress of Sony’s next PlayStation handheld is in the “early stages,” as per a report inBloomberg. The article mentions that the portable console would be able to run PlayStation 5 titles “on the move,” suggesting native gaming capabilities. However, the report said that the system is still “years away” from launch status while giving no guarantees about the handheld making it all the way through development either. Insiders also revealed that Sony’s remote-play offering, PlayStation Portal, which receivedcloud gaming support for certain PS gamesrecently, was “intended” to be a Steam Deck-like standalone device “initially.” Moreover, it is understood that the portable Sony console currently in development “builds on” the PS Portal as its starting inspiration.
Sony Working on Gaming Handheld to Compete with Nintendo and Possibly Xbox
Bloomberg continued to shed light on the motive for Sony’s reignited interest in the handheld space, stating that the rumored handheld project is geared towards “expanding Sony’s reach” and eating into Nintendo’s giant share of the portable console market. With Nintendo’s Switch successor announcement slated for early 2025 and withXbox testing prototypes of a handheldof their own, Sony is aiming to go up against these forthcoming portable systems with the rumored PlayStation handheld.
Based on thesuccess of the PlayStation Portal released last year, Sony looks to be in a prime position to roll out another handheld onto the market. Leveraging the experience gained from its work on the PSP and PS Vita, the console giant would hope that it can provide some good competition to the unrivaled lead of Nintendo in this gaming hardware category.
