About that PlayStation handheld leak…

So, Sony’s apparently working on a new handheld. A real one this time, unlike that fake one last year that left me severely disappointed.

According Wccftech via to Moore’s Law is Dead, Sony is allegedly in the early stages of developing a successor to the PSP and PS Vita. The company is reportedly partnering with AMD to create a custom APU for the device. Very little is known about it so far, but it’s believed to feature a GPU with 18 compute units with a clock speed around 1.8 GHz. This is to maintain compatibility with PlayStation 4 titles. It will also be able to play select PS5 games provided developers issue a patch. Reports suggest the handheld is still a couple years out, and is meant to be part of the PS6 family of products.

So what do I make of this? Well, it’s plausible. Sony had all but pulled out of the handheld market back in 2014 after the PS Vita failed to recover from lacklustre sales. Even prior to that, investment in their portables was lukewarm at best. However, a lot has changed in the market since then. The Switch became a runaway hit, while PC based handhelds have been gaining in popularity thanks to Valve’s Steam Deck. The industry has shifted away from handhelds being stand-alone budget systems, towards more premium devices. Ones that can play the exact same games as their console and desktop counterparts, with far fewer compromises than in the past.

The Steam Deck can already play most last gen games without issue, including the PlayStation titles Sony has ported to PC. More powerful handhelds like the ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion already offer performance similar to the PS4 Pro, albeit at a steeper entry price. In a few years time, that technology will presumably come down in cost, making an affordable next generation PlayStation Portable more viable. At least one that’s does everything the rumours claim. Does it even make sense though?

Well, PlayStation is a lot like Google in that they don’t do a good job of supporting their “side projects”. Even going as far back as the PSP, support was often inconsistent. The Vita of course was dropped the nanosecond the PS4 looked looked like it was going to be a huge hit. Mind you, this was at a time when porting console releases to mobile wasn’t a straight forward affair like it is now. Back then you’d have to split your resources, with separate games being developed for both platforms. Obviously it made more sense for Sony to focus on the consoles, since those were more profitable. Nowadays, porting isn’t an issue since these handhelds run the same hardware, and can just run those games out of the box with few to no modifications needed.

What confuses me with these rumours is Sony’s focus on PS4 titles. That in and of itself isn’t an issue. What’s weird is that the device is being targeted to partner with their 10th console generation, which is still at least three to four years out. CEO Jim Ryan has made controversial statements regarding older games, indicating that the company is only focusing on new releases. Even so, by 2027, interest in PS4 titles likely isn’t going to be that strong, and it sounds like they’re relying heavily on developers to make sure PS5 titles work. And it doesn’t seem like new content is a priority. A system that only plays older games again isn’t really an issue. There is demand there. But it does limit the device’s mass appeal. Something that quickly became a big problem for the Vita.

It’s odd that they would wait so long to put out such a device, rather than striking while the iron is hot. They also just put out the Portal, which baffled a lot of online commentators due to its limited capabilities. Some people have been saying a new handheld would also make it obsolete. Though with the time frame, and likely pricing, I don’t think that’s the case. Heck, the Portal might even be a dry run to gauge how much interest there is in a next gen PSP. Especially given how much it looks like a prototype.

Much like with the Switch Pro rumours though, I don’t think this is an actual product. It might have been at one point, but from where Sony currently stands, it doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense. Plus there’s still a lot of animosity there from long time PlayStation fans over the Vita. Releasing a new handheld would be an uphill battle. Basically, nobody trusts them. So who knows. Like with all online rumours and “leaks”, it’s best to take it with a big grain of salt.