Rumour: A New PlayStation Handheld Console Reportedly in the Works 1
Image: Push Square

Following the PlayStation Vita's relatively poor commercial performance, it's never really seemed likely that Sony would return to the handheld space. In a world where smartphones are already everywhere and development budgets and timescales are ballooning, a dedicated handheld console seems like the last thing Sony would focus on. However, known hardware leaker Moore's Law Is Dead (MLID) says otherwise.

A recent video from the YouTuber includes a segment on a new PlayStation handheld, nicknamed the 'Vita 2'. Unlike the Remote Play-only PS Portal, this supposed new device would be a dedicated portable console that can play games natively. The report states the machine is in a "high level design phase", meaning it's in a very early state — apparently "at least two years out" and "technically not greenlit for launch yet".

The handheld will reportedly make use of a custom APU from AMD, and in a nutshell, would be capable of running digital PS4 games natively. As for PS5 software, MLID says developers tell him it's "plausible" that games could be updated on a case-by-case basis to support the handheld with "Pro-like patches". This would mean not all PS5 games could run on the 'Vita 2', just the ones developers adjust to support it. By the sound of it, the handheld wouldn't have its own suite of games, it'd essentially just be a portable PS5/PS4. It sort of sounds like a Steam Deck but for PlayStation, in that sense.

An alternative view on the device is that it may be even further away, and planned as a PS6 companion device that's a "weaker (but portable) alternative for the Japanese market".

MLID concludes by saying he can "100% confirm" a new PlayStation handheld is in very early development.

As mentioned earlier, a new handheld console from Sony doesn't really make sense nowadays, so we're inclined to be cautious of this, regardless of how credible MLID is. Stating the console isn't greenlit yet is a classic insider get-out clause that covers the possibility that Sony never does release a new handheld. We'll believe it when we see it.

That said, we'd definitely be excited by another portable PlayStation. What do you think? Could Sony really be working on a handheld PlayStation? Will it release in the next few years? Is it all, in fact, baloney? Discuss in the comments section below.

[source youtube.com, via insider-gaming.com]