PlayStation is reportedly working on a new handheld console to rival the Nintendo Switch. Since the arrival of Nintendo’s massively popular hybrid console, there has been a push by the industry to break into the handheld market with devices like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally catering to the PC crowd who want their gaming on the go. However, we now have rumours about PlayStation potentially reliving its glory days of the PSP (or forgotten PS Vita days, to be fair).
The report comes from Bloomberg which claims that PlayStation is in the early days of developing a handheld console that would enable players to take PS5 games on the go. “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,” Bloomberg added, reiterating that since it’s still in early development, plans could easily change.
It’s worth noting that this device would seemingly be different to the PlayStation Portal, which already enables players to play PS5 games on the go. However, it’s heavily reliant on cloud streaming games and requires a stable internet connection, meaning you can’t take your Portal to a park and play it outside if there’s no Wi-Fi connectivity. The handheld console discussed in the report will likely be able to be played offline similar to the PSP or PS Vita, evident from its plans to rival the Nintendo Switch.
This isn’t the first time that we’ve heard rumours about a potential new handled in development at Sony. A report from September this year shed light on two PS6 SoCs (System-on-a-Chip) in production at the company, with one of them potentially being a new portable device. If this is accurate, then PlayStation might launch the PS6 alongside this new portable hardware.
Source: Bloomberg
