There’s an unsubstantiated rumour increasingly gaining traction on social media which claims Sony is on the verge of releasing a new handheld device which will play PS4 games natively. The source – which has been widely reported on by gaming media – appears to stem from a single Russian social media account, and has been retweeted thousands of times. We’ve been unable to corroborate the story.
The speculation suggests that Sony is plotting a new PSP-esque platform which will be compatible with the entire PS4 library and “select” PS5 games which are patched to support the system. It follows a “boom” in handheld interest, with the likes of the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally appealing enormously to enthusiast gamers. Xbox is also rumoured to be introducing a handheld into its product portfolio.
Despite the excitement among core players, however, it’s worth noting that these devices aren’t selling in tremendously high numbers; Valve says it’s sold “multiple millions” Steam Deck devices, estimated to be a little over three million units by the end of 2023. These aren’t staggering sales statistics by any degree.
The insinuation with this newly rumoured portable PlayStation is that there’d be no software specifically developed for it; instead, it’d just play existing titles released for PS4 on the PS Store. To us, it doesn’t sound like a particularly compelling proposition, and we’re far from convinced this would slot into Sony’s plans – especially when it’s focused on promoting PS5 titles these days.
Despite the sheer amount of activity surrounding this rumour online, then, we’re going to say it’s almost certainly not true. PS Portal has proven there’s room for a handheld in Sony’s product portfolio, as despite initial scepticism from fans, it’s sold above expectations. We’d expect PlayStation to continue to iterate on this idea moving forward, as opposed to building an expensive, battery-draining standalone unit.
Comments 60
If the Portal hadn't JUST become a thing, I'd have maybe thought there was some chance of this. But, as fate would have it...
Even if it was true I'd be personally disappointed just because the Portal is a thing and I want PS1, 2, and 3 games on there, not ps4 and 5.
@Nepp67 Just get a Retroid or something. Those can run most PS1 and PS2 games these days.
It'd be amazing, but until we get official confirmation, I'm not getting my hopes up.
Buy the ROG Ally and play PS1~PS5 games locally. It’s that simple (with the exception of some games like Bloodborne and the Last Guardian).
I mean, with the PlayStation branding, I believe it would sell really well. I think people would like to play 2K, COD, EA sports titles, Exclusives.
Just how would it work, though, in terms of physical games?
@get2sammyb If it can run SH1, 2, 3, and 4 then count me the hell in
If you want to experience a game that is exclusive on PlayStation "on the go" you don't deserve those games anyway. Those are audio visual masterpieces that have to be experienced on the biggest and best home theater, not while you sit on the bus or something. Mobile games on the phone are for that.
oh my god those colored buttons 😍
It would need good sticks for starters. I love my Vita but those sticks just do not work. Air flow means it would be fairly bulky too. The more I think about it, the more I think that Sony just aren’t the type to create this sort of product with the industry as it is.
I'd buy it. I've just recently got myself a PSVita and even playing something like Uncharted: Golden Abyss on it is impressive to me, so I'd love to be able to play a portable version of Uncharted 4.
I’d lose my mind too.
"these devices aren’t selling in tremendously high numbers;"
Umm is the Switch/Switch lite not selling in tremendous numbers? 😅 Think you forgot who these companies were originally chasing with these portables!
If there ever was a rumor I pray was true is this one, we need the return of Sony in the portable space with hopefully the PSP2 (hope that's what they call it!) 🤞🤞
@Tecinthebrain Switch is a completely different proposition to these extremely high-powered portable PCs.
if it was true ( which im 99% its not true) i would 100% buy this day one.
Would buy one in a heartbeat
@get2sammyb Fully agree to your argument that it makes no sense from Sony‘s perspective. You can focus on only so many things, while other things (must) get deprioritised.
SIE is focusing on PS5, PC conversions, live service games and high-level single player games. This gets supported by PS Portal.
Meanwhile, SIE dropped support for PS Vita, PS4 and basically PSVR2. And now a new PS4 handheld?
I know a lot more about software production than hardware but is way too soon. Portal is basically the proof people will buy it and Lenovo making disposable handhelds means Sony has the economy to do so, but it's WAY too early.
I mean every one would love one of course.
But I don’t see it, like others have mentioned they have recently released the portal. The ‘pro’ seems to be the next hardware.
Maybe in a couple of years? Maybe it’s a counter to the MS rumours, so Sony don’t get left behind?
Or maybe it’s just fake news as it’s from Russia.
I think it shows just how much people want one to be released.
I remember 4 months ago that there was a rumor for a Vita successor being in early development at PlayStation.
It was around the same time Moore's Law Is Dead leaked those PS5Pro documents.
The idea it could play all PS4 games was also speculation brought up in the same leak/rumor. It makes perfect sense if they are able to extend the life of the PS4 for perpetuity and perhaps also allow for new technology to be implemented (including the portal tech for PS5 and potentially PS6 streaming).
So people are saying Sony is going to release hardware which would make the Portal harder to sell (as surely this will have the remote play app too) and also be a platform where nobody has to actually buy new games (which is where PlayStation makes it’s money). Can’t really see it.
I understand why they're mainly targeting PS4 games as it would need to be an expensive beast of a machine to play certain PS5 games natively, the Lenovo Legion Go can play most new games and that's with some compromises and even that cost £700.
@get2sammyb I took your comment as you saying there's barely any money to be made doing portables and there's no demand when that's not the case. Sony did it with the PSP and they can do it again, being more successful than these portable PCs assuming they go all in. They of course won't beat Nintendo but they can still have the second most popular dedicated gaming portable!
@Tecinthebrain Switch is more affordable and can be played docked on TV so it caters to both home console and handheld players. Also there's a massive library of exclusives games on the switch which you can't play anywhere else so that helps it sell. Whilst these handheld PC's are high spec, high price, bulkier and have no exclusive games that make their version a must have. A Sony handheld on the other hand would have exclusives and so would sell way more than the Steam Deck or Lenovo Legion etc but nothing is catching the Switch.
That's why it doesn't make sense that Xbox is rumoured to be making an handheld as its games are already playable day one the current PC handhelds due to having steam installed. Then there's the fact their games are slowly coming to Playstation which then people could play on the PlayStation handheld instead, and then most gamers in Asia would rather play games on the Switch anyway, so this Xbox handheld has a very small market to sell to and will probably sell less than the PlayStation Portal.
@TheTraditional it wouldn’t work with physical. Hence physical is dead outside of collectors. Which i understand those that like it and but it. It severs that purpose well. But for moving forward it will be left behind. Hence i stopped buying it a decade ago and went 100% digital. Even tho i love steel books.
@UltimateOtaku91 Xbox handheld would limited windows issues. I know seems like it would double down on them. But Phil has hinted at windows being an issue on those handhelds. Going as far as saying he wants a TV like Ui on the Xbox handheld so that in itself beats all PC handhelds. Steam deck can’t play COD. Another area Xbox Handheld has an advantage. Not saying it will sell gangbusters but it has a space. Sony Handheld has its space as well but i can’t see it selling huge either. The only thing i do see is Sony and MS could kill off everything not named Steam Deck. The others would suffer and die off i would believe.
This has already been debunked on the rumour circuit about 19 days ago, therefore this is indeed fake news.
I'm quite happy with my steam deck, which can play PS4 like games. I would love a device that actually does play PS4 games, but isn't that called the switch2?
Heck yeah sony. I hope this are true. Absolutely day 1 as im more into portable handheld rather than home console. As an ex owner os psp,ps vita oled,nintendo switch and now loving my steam deck oled.
Yeah this makes sense, build a handheld that plays PS4 games just after you've stopped making games for the PS4. There's no chance such a device gets released
Portable PS4? Sign me up!
Funny thing is, people are talking about patching PS5 games to run on it - talk about ironic, the PS5 warriors would lose their heads over this!
If Sony would indeed do something like this people would be saying things like PS4 is underpowered, Sony is stretching/splitting resources, where are the PS5 games. I cannot even imagine the backlash if somehow some PS5 games, like, say FF7 Rebirth, are patched to work in PS4 hardware.
If you are interested just get the cheapest Steam Deck.
As a new Portal owner I question the need for such a product.
I can play PS4 games in 99% of usage scenarios - let’s not pretend people play at skate parks per the fake looking Switch adverts.
In addition, I can also play all the latest PS5 games and upcoming PS5 Pro games with no heat or battery concerns.
I suppose you could make a niche Portal Pro with an OLED and the ability to play “some” games whilst out of WiFi range, but not sure there is a market over and above the current Portal which will remain a far cheaper product.
Sony would just end up competing with themselves and damaging both products.
If such a product did exist, it would not be aimed at anyone reading this.
It would be aimed at people who don’t own a console. A small “my first PlayStation” for a kid to buy old £5.99 PS4 games on, and some modern indie titles like Animal Well.
Obviously fake, but if it wasn’t it would be a horrible idea. PS5 games are already being held back by ps4 versions and that would only encourage developers to make versions for both for even longer. We need ps4 to be let go already so this gen can actually start properly 😅
Steam Deck and Rog Ally haven't sold well, I think around 3M Steam Decks sold
Not sure why people keep saying they are so popular
This looks fake as hell to me. Besides from a user confusion point of view if it runs PS4 games it would make a lot more sense to brand it PSP4 (or something with a 4 in it) rather that PSP3 just because it is the third.
Plot twist: they only released the Portal so this was their 4th handheld. /jk
The bias for another PS portable could admittedly challenge my usual disdain for "leaks" and "rumours" if the whole notion didn't clash against the existence of Portal - it feels like having a dedicated handheld console ANYWHERE in the pipeline would have made the streaming tablet redundant and, combining the Remote Play with a native offline library like its predecessors, would have almost undoubtedly raised much fewer eyebrows upon its announcement. Sony folks seem to have made their choice, at least until Gen 10... whose hypothetical return to the domain would already compete with Switch's own successor.
A chance for Sony to move all those old M2 memory cards they've got stacked up!
I jest of course, lets hope if it's real then standard SD cards are the norm at least.
If the rumours are true I'd buy it, I miss the good old days of handhelds and have always been sad they stopped making them. I played my Switch a ton, I've got a SteamDeck, a Retroid Pocket, and a Anbernic SP. I'd gladly add a new Sony handheld to my collection.
@CrashBandicoat "let’s not pretend people play at skate parks per the fake looking Switch adverts" 🤣
I think it would make sense but are we assuming ps5 pro this year? if so I wouldnt expect this until Christmas 25
They just released the Portal not long ago.
Additionally, it's a crowded market as is, and why buy this when the Steam Deck is able to play most PS5 games as well at an acceptable level of performance?
It is also...a stupid concept. We already have Portal and why would I want a portable console that only plays games from a generation ago? If it doesn't have new games created for the console only then it's a waste of time
This sounds leaps and bounds better than the Portal which I have no interest in.
I do hope they get that pc launcher out (which is rumored to have cross entitlement with ps5 purchases) and I can just treat my Rog Ally and steam deck as a much better portable ps5.
I highly doubt Sony would have signed off that glowing D-Pad
@TrickyDicky99 because it’s kinda expensive? Compared to portable console like Nintendo Switch.
If it was a PS Portal that could stream PS5 and play ps4 games natively, then that wouldn’t necessarily be so bad.
I think the handheld market is getting bigger and I think the idea is cool and all but... just playing PS4 games sounds neat but people are going to want to play more modern titles. Not necessarily PS5 AAA but indies or newer games. My Steam Deck and ROG ally can play Shadow of the Erdtree or a lot of current gen games acceptably.
@Ralizah Why buy a Steam deck when you can have a dedicated PlayStation portable with access to all your library including games bought for your PS5/PS4?
Me buying Stellar Blade on my PS5 and with that copy I can play it on my PlayStation portable, how does the Steam Deck beat that? The Steam Deck only wins if the person is strickly a PC gamer.
They could just make a small device that fits on the Portal and allows you to use some proprietary "SD" card( jab at PSP/Vita memory things) to download games for offline play and it would allow them to release an updated "Portal" model with this same type of feature just built into it.
But this is just a rumor and with the Portal's very recent release, it seems a bit far fetched.
People who believe this is real should send me money, cause I'm a Nigerian prince.
@gollumb82 that works. but what about the people who have already invested thousands of dollars into the ps4/ps5 ecosystem and want to play them on a handheld? this could fit the bill, although the ps5 game compatibility will likely be a curated list of sorts which is not ideal. it might make more sense to wait 3-4 years for the tech to catch up a little (and fall in price) and launch the handheld with FULL ps4/ps5 support instead which would be pretty great in my opinion.
@Porco
You have a point there. I have quite a few games in my PS library that I had to double dip in to be able to play them on the Ally, but if you have a PS4/5 you can stream those games directly into the Ally. I hear it works better than on PS Portal. I’ve been playing Gran Turismo 5 lately and it works really well on the Ally. There’s little hope you will ever be able to play such games on a Sony handheld I think. I had a PS Vita a while back and I really liked it for what it was. Maybe the growing popularity of handhelds will convince Sony to give it another shot.
But can it run Crysis?
I'd buy it as I'm a big fan of both the PSP and the Vita, but I'd rather Sony focus on the home market.
Sony should looks into steamdeck oled for price, performance, and design for playstation portable 2, just make it fully compatible with ps4 and below (including psp and vita of course).
@nomither6 right! I have no idea why they did away with the colored buttons for the ps5. They are iconic and beautiful. They need to come back
@Earthbound28 because the empty suits thought it wasn’t corporate enough or modern enough i guess
Just put out a ps5 designed like switch where the console is in the handheld and just be connected to your tv at home
I mean?........ The portal should have done this to begin with? In my opinion.
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