Summary
ThePlayStation Portalmay receive more upgrades in the future, as hinted by a high-ranking Sony executive. The handheld Remote Play system has seen unexpectedly massive success amongPlayStationusers, and it appears Sony is looking into ways to further increase the Portal’s value proposition.
When it was first revealed in summer 2023, reactions to the PlayStation Portal were mostly mixed. Many were skeptical about the PlayStation Portal’s rather limited utility as a Remote Play accessory for the PS5, but the handheld defied all expectations when it launched later that year. ThePlayStation Portal immediately sold out in major marketsand was stock-constrained until early 2024, surpassing even Sony’s internal projections. To this day, the PlayStation Portal continues to rank in the upper echelons of regional sales charts.
Sony has since expanded upon thePlayStation Portal’s core functionality with a PS Plus Premium cloud streamingbeta program, relinquishing the handheld’s dependence on a physical PS5 console. However, it seems the gaming giant might not be closing the book on the PlayStation Portal yet. Speaking in a recentBBC interview, PlayStation co-CEO Hideaki Nishino remarked that the way players engage with games is changing, which has been a key factor behind the Portal’s “huge success.” Nishino further confirmed that in addition to the PS Plus Premium cloud streaming beta program for the PlayStation Portal, Sony is exploring various new avenues for “how players can play games.”
PS Portal’s Functionality May Be Expanded to a New Platform
While Nishino’s statement doesn’t quite delve into specifics, it does tease potential future enhancements for the PlayStation Portal. As for what these enhancements could be is a matter of speculation, but one of them might entail thePortal being compatible with PlayStation games on PC. Sony has significantly ramped up its efforts to support the platform in recent years, even making itsPS VR2 headset compatible with PCearlier this year. The company could do the same for the Portal by possibly integrating Remote Play into PlayStation games on PC, allowing users to stream them to the handheld without a PS5.
However, this may be tricky given the substantial library of PlayStation games Sony has published on PC so far. It remains to be seen what Sony is planning for the PlayStation Portal in the coming years, but for now, owners of the handheld can look forward to testing out its PS Plus Premium cloud streaming beta program. Recent reports also allege that ablack colorway for the PlayStation Portalis in the works, which might help broaden its appeal even further.
PlayStation Portal
While not exactly a PSP successor, the PlayStation Portal solves an age-old issue of having to share one TV in a household. This remote play device allows users to stream whatever is happening on their PlayStation 5’s directly to the large 8-inch 1080p LCD screen. What makes the PlayStation Portal unique is that it comes packed with all the advanced technology of the DualSense wireless controller, such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. One downside is that it doesn’t feature Bluetooth support for wireless audio, but it does work with the PlayStation Pulse earbuds and headset, while also sporting a 3.5mm audio jack for wired audio.
