A new rumor has come up that Sony is planning a new handheld. Insider Gaming has confirmed this rumor with their sources, but you’ll want to know the details.
Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming sought verification from his source after word spread from Jeff Grubb that Sony isn’t making a PlayStation Vita 2, but a cloud streaming device. Jeff also shared that this was part of the “second phase of the PlayStation 5,” AKA a broader plan for new PlayStation 5 hardware and accessories.
What Tom verified is that Sony is making a Remote Play device. The device falls under the codename the Q Lite, and it resembles the DualSense, with an 8-inch LCD touchscreen.
Like the DualSense, it will have adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, as well as other I/O for a proper standalone handheld. That means an on/off button, volume buttons, speakers, an input jack. Etc. No word if this device will support voice chat or have other similar accoutrements. It would certainly be something if this device could interact with PSVR 2 or have other features like that.
There’s something else that isn’t clear from Tom’s reporting on this story. He states that it isn’t a cloud streaming device, but is instead a Remote Play device.
Remote Play is different from Sony’s PlayStation Now service, but is itself a form of cloud streaming. We do usually think of cloud streaming as streaming from a bigger server leased from a company. But Sony’s Remote Play, like Steam’s Remote Streaming, is the same kind of technology, and it works in exactly the same way. The only difference is you run your own server, with your console or gaming PC being the server where you stream the games to. You own these games, and don’t have to buy or rent them from another marketplace.
There are other details that are unclear from this rumor, but it is possible to reasonably extrapolate. Sony offers PlayStation Now with an app that users have to download to their devices, whether they use Windows, iOS, MacOS, or Android. It’s most likely that Sony’s Remote Play device will be Android based, and of course the PlayStation Now service will be installed. It is possible that Sony makes a version of the PlayStation Now app that makes it its own OS, so the Remote Play device can’t play anything else as well. Maybe there will also be a mode that allows users to play with the Remote Play device, go into the room where the PlayStation 5 is, press a button and go into playing the game on the PlayStation 5 directly, with the device acting as your controller. That would make it an even more seamless game experience than docking a Nintendo Switch.
Based on Tom’s description, Sony will be using parts they already use to make the DualSense. This Remote Play device isn’t the second coming of the Vita and it won’t be competing with the Nintendo Switch or the Steam Deck. But it will be a nice little side business for Sony, and a product they can offer to PlayStation 5 owners who are interested.
