It looks like Sony is joining Xbox in the development of a standalone handheld gaming console to compete with the likes of the Nintendo Switch and Valve Steam Deck. According to a Bloomberg’s insider sources, a Sony gaming handheld is already in development, and would be designed with Sony PlayStation 5 games in mind. Unlike the PlayStation Portal, the future gaming console wouldn’t be dependent on game streaming and would, instead, run games locally, meaning it would likely need significantly more powerful hardware than the Portal has. This would be Sony’s first true foray into the portable gaming console market since the likes of the PS Vita, which is largely considered to be a commercial disappointment.
Sony isn’t the first of the console giants looking into creating its own gaming handheld after Nintendo’s Switch. Obviously, Valve, traditionally more of a software company, already has the immensely popular Steam Deck, but we also recently reported that Microsoft is in the early stages of developing its own handheld gaming console. Details on the future Sony gaming handheld are scant, and there has been no official word from Sony about the console. That said, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it equipped with an AMD APU, similar to the likes of the Steam Deck and the PS5, since Sony already has history and a commercial relationship with AMD hardware.
The rise of the gaming handheld has had some unexpected side effects, like the rapid growth of the indie gaming space and an increased interest in games that can be run on less powerful hardware. It also seems like controller support has also taken more of a prominent role in the PC gaming landscape. Gaming-adjacent software, like the Xbox Game Bar on Windows have also received drastic redesigns and optimizations for touch screens as a result of the increased adoption of smaller-screen gaming hardware.
It will be interesting to see what comes out of Microsoft and Sony’s mobile gaming efforts. Since both gaming giants are also game developers or have development subsidiaries, we might see a shift to more efficient or more configurable AAA console games, which would generally be good news for PC ports, which have a bit of a reputation for poor optimization.
