The handheld market may be about to get very interesting as major console makers, outside of Nintendo, enter the market. Following the rumors about Xbox portable devices, a new report says that Sony is now working on a handheld gaming system too, letting its PlayStation playerbase take their games on the go.
According to Bloomberg, Sony is currently expanding its hardware resources to develop a portable console. Said to be early in development, this device will reportedly be powerful enough to play PlayStation 5 games. Its unclear if this is aiming to deliver performance of at least a base PlayStation 5, or simply play the same games just in a lower-spec format, much like how Microsoft's Xbox Series S handles things.
Per multiple sources, the report adds that the project is taking aim at taking the chunk out of Nintendo's handheld market, which it has been dominating for many years since the launch of the Switch. Despite its popularity though, the aging hardware of the Switch leaves most modern games out of its grasp, though a successor is quite likely to be announced soon with better Nvidia hardware inside. If a new PlayStation portable is in development, it will be a major rival to this new Switch.
Sony reportedly began development of its recently released 8-inch PlayStation Portal handheld as a standalone gaming device as well, something similar to Valve's Steam Deck handheld computer. However, plans had changed to make it a local streaming-only accessory, which is finally getting cloud-gaming capabilities soon. It's said that the PlayStation 5 games-capable hardware is building upon the lessons of the Portal handheld.
Bloomberg adds that the new handheld is probably years away from launch though, and the company may ditch the idea altogether if the strategy doesn't pan out. But now with Microsoft pretty much confirming its own Xbox handheld plans, its likely Sony will have an answer by the time that's ready too.
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