Sony’s recent introduction of cloud gaming features on PlayStation Portal raised the potential for a seismic change in how video games are distributed and accessed. Even though the handheld device doesn’t play anything natively, designed instead to remotely mirror whatever is running on your PS5, the beta launch of a dedicated game streaming feature raised the curious possibility of being able to bypass the PS5 entirely.
All players would need, in theory, is the $200/£200 PlayStation Portal and a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription, then they could access a curated library of games wherever they had a fast enough internet connection. The idea would surely be appealing to some players. The Portal and a rolling subscription would cost more than buying a PS5 console in the long run, but month-to-month may work out more economical. For those willing to stick to playing only the titles included in the cloud catalog, it could be especially appealing, given individual games can cost upwards of $70/£70.
The requirement for a constant internet connection to do anything with the Portal is an inherent limiting factor, but its core remote viewer function has at least been refined for increasingly stable performance in the year since the handheld’s release. A summer 2024 update allowing the gadget to connect to public Wi-Fi sign-in portals was a quiet landmark, making connecting to a new network as easy as configuring your phone or laptop. Playing on Portal away from home was suddenly more viable, and bears out in tests now.