- PlayStation boss Hideaki Nishino says “pick up and play” is the most important quality for consoles today.
- He says Sony wants to leverage technology “that can be used in a variety of ways and locations.”
- CEO’s comments suggest Sony is looking to re-enter the wearable market
A new PlayStation handheld could be on the table after comments from Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino suggested the company wants to create new hardware similar to the Nintendo Switch 2.
In an interview with Famitsu (translated by IGN), Nishino was asked if PlayStation plans to continue focusing on consoles, following a previous comment he made in 2024 about how the hardware isn’t going away anytime soon.
The CEO confirmed that this would be the case, saying: “My belief that a console is necessary to play games has not changed,” adding that Sony “wants to continue offering its own game consoles.”
But what kind of consoles? Nishino went on to mention that “pick up and play” is the most important quality of consoles today, which immediately makes us think of Switch 2 or PlayStation Portal.
Nishino went on to say that developing new consoles will mean Sony will “leverage technologies that can be used in various forms and locations” and that this would allow Sony to “create something exciting.”
“For example, although the PlayStation brand is strongly associated with playing on the living room TV, we are planning to launch monitors and speakers so that people can play comfortably in other places as well,” Nishino said. “We developed the PlayStation Portal as part of this initiative.”
PlayStation Portal is a remote player that allows PS5 users to play their PS5 games through their handheld device, a challenge that Sony took on to create a new type of gaming experience, according to Nishino.
“We were thinking, ‘Let’s try this, let’s try that,’ and I’d like us to move forward with product development while exploring various ideas in this way,” he said.
While PlayStation Portal is a portable console, its purpose is designed for streaming and cloud gaming, unlike the PSP and PS Vita.
While the PSP took off and became Sony’s biggest handheld, selling 70 million units, the PS Vita didn’t fare very well, selling approximately 15 to 16 million units before being discontinued in 2019.
If Sony plans to rejoin the handheld market, it will have tough competition if it goes up against the Switch 2, which has officially sold nearly 6 million units in its first year of release.
A PS6 handheld has been rumored for some time. According to reliable tipster and leaker Moore’s Law is Dead, Sony will launch its next-generation PlayStation with three devices in 2027, including two consoles and a companion handheld.
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