Sony is giving the gift of cloud gaming to the PlayStation Portal—meaning you no longer need a pricey PS5 to enjoy the handheld.
“PlayStation Plus Premium members will be able to participate in a beta for cloud streaming on PS Portal, allowing select PS5 games in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog to be streamed directly from our servers, even without a PS5 console,” PlayStation explains in an announcement this week.
Over 120 PS5 games will be available through the cloud on the handheld including Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Monster Hunter Rise, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart.
PS Portal cloud gaming promises up to 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second. This is good enough, but arguably the bare minimum for fast-paced games or shooter titles that typically need a minimum of 60 fps without visible screen tearing, blurring, or other distracting visual issues (for high-stakes competitive shooters, a stable 120 to 240 fps or more is ideal these days).
This 60 fps maximum on the PS Portal appears to be due to hardware constraints built into its 8-inch screen (PCMag’s original PSP review rates the screen mediocre and the device “fair” overall for a number of reasons).
If your internet connection is 13 Mbps or more, you’ll be able to stream games at 1080p, but if it’s between 7 Mbps and 13 Mbps, you’ll be stuck streaming at 720p.
Controller haptic feedback will be present while cloud gaming, though, as well as adaptive triggers, speakers, an emulated touch pad, and a motion sensor to give you a classic PlayStation experience despite the smaller device.
Recommended by Our Editors
Previously, PSP gaming was only available through Wi-Fi and required a PlayStation 5 console. Now, you can play PS5-exclusive games with just a $200 handheld. By comparison, the PS5 Pro is currently selling for $700, while the PS5 Slim version is selling for $500. But of course, the full-size consoles come with a lot more perks and the potential for a massive screen, ray-tracing for better graphics, and a top-of-the-line 4K gaming experience overall.
PlayStation Portal users will get a software update either late Tuesday or on Wednesday that includes the cloud gaming capabilities. You’ll need a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription and a PlayStation Network account to access it. Once you download the update, you can enable cloud streaming beta by navigating to your PSP’s settings menu. Then, a cloud streaming option should appear on your home screen.
The beta will be available in 30 countries to start, including in the US, UK, Canada, Japan, and a number of European countries. You can check out PlayStation’s blog post to see if yours is on the list.
Get Our Best Stories!
Sign up for What’s New Now to get our top stories delivered to your inbox every morning.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
About Kate Irwin
Reporter
