Sony had effectively quit the handheld gaming market when it buried the PS Vita, a little after the launch of the immensely successful Nintendo Switch. After the dominance of the latter for a full seven years – going into eight depending on when the successor launches – it looks like the PlayStation company is looking at the possibilities of a handheld once again.
Bloomberg reports that “Sony Group Corp is in the early stages of developing a portable console that would play its PlayStation 5 games on the move”. The report cites sources who claim that it’s the company’s attempt at contending with Nintendo for the portable gaming market. This move is also intended to beat Microsoft to the punch, as Xbox has started prototyping its own handheld.
The sources cited also claim that the idea is to build upon the PS Portal, which was initially intended to function as a standalone device, with comparisons drawn directly to the Steam Deck. Of course, the product that Sony ultimately released is a far cry from it initial intent, being nearly completely dependent an existing PS5 to function. Despite this, it has seen reasonable success, and has recently been given the added functionality of true cloud gaming in markets that get the PS Plus Premium tier instead of Deluxe.
All that being said though, if this upcoming handheld is only going to be able to play PS5 games natively, then it may be a case of too little, too late. After all, we’re halfway past the current console generation, with the mid-generation upgrade already in the market. Considering the device is still years away, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the next console generation, and therefore the PS6, already in full swing. On the flip side, the handheld is in an early enough stage for Sony to “decide against bringing it to market”.
(Source: Bloomberg)
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