Sony is allegedly keeping a close eye on the handheld market, following the surprise success of the PS Portal. Despite being panned pre-release in public opinion polls on sites like Push Square, the Remote Play accessory has gone on to become a bit of a sensation, blowing past the platform holder’s pre-release sales estimates – and topping revenue charts around the world. Obviously its $200 MSRP is playing a part in the latter, but it’s worth noting it’s competing against similarly priced accessories, like the DualSense Edge, which aren’t performing at anywhere near the same level.
Well-connected tipster Tom Henderson wrote on X (or Twitter) that the Japanese giant is paying “very close attention to the handheld market” in the aftermath of PS Portal’s success. There’s been a resurgence in interest in portables following the launch of the Steam Deck and a variety of other PC-based handhelds, like the ROG Ally. Despite the tidal wave of interest from enthusiasts, however, it’s perhaps worth remembering that the Steam Deck has sold fewer than 10 million units, which is less than the PS Vita.
There were unsubstantiated rumours earlier in the year from a random Russian individual that Sony was plotting a portable which would only play PS4 titles, but this was never corroborated by a reliable source despite widespread reporting from the media.
While we’ve always been fond of PlayStation’s handheld endeavours, we’re not convinced a large enough audience exists for a standalone device. The platform holder’s unlikely to develop games specifically for the portable, as this was one of the PS Vita’s biggest flaws, so it’d need to share a library with the PS5, which would result in a large, heavy, and expensive product. We can’t see the company limiting a hypothetical handheld to just PS4 software as indicated above, as it’s slowly trying to untether itself from that generation.