A rumor about a possible new gaming handheld from Sony is making some waves on the ResetEra gaming forum. The source of the rumor is Russian journalist Anton Logvinov, whose post was found by ResetEra user Iroshino and later translated by user DieH@rd. According to Logvinov, Sony has plans to release a new handheld device that seems tailor made for PlayStation 4 titles.
While the source of this leak might seem suspect, Logvinov is known for previously leaking that Sony was going to be releasing first-party titles on PC. Lognivov sais that “I can confirm that Sony is preparing a new PSP for release, but damn – there are only PS4 games in the launch lineup, which are generally available on PC, and therefore on SteamDeck. Retail chains, by the way, are quite sceptical. Either Sony is doing something completely, or they are still keeping secrets from their partners.”
It’s important to note that Logvinov appears to only be discussing the launch lineup, so it could be that Sony will not be restricting the device to only being able to run PlayStation 4 software. However, a lot of the users of the ResetEra forum are taking it at face value that the device will in fact have that limitation.
Sony currently has a handheld device, the PlayStation Portal, although its only purpose is streaming games from a user’s PlayStation 5 and costs $199. If a thin client such as the PlayStation Portal is already hitting this price point, what might a device with more powerful hardware and additional features cost?
Whether or note a handheld locked down to Sony’s ecosystem that costs as much, if not more, than a Steam Deck would be succesful remains to be seen. However, with the PlayStation Portal, Sony is showing that it doesn’t mind having niche hardware devices in its ecosystem. Would you be excited for a new Sony handheld? Let us know in the comments below.