Sony to launch new PSP which can run PS4 games claims source-Adam Starkey-Entertainment – Metro

Is Sony developing a follow-up to the PS Vita? (Sony Interactive Entertainment)

PlayStation might be preparing to release a new PSP console, in what could be a rival to the Switch 2 and Steam Deck.

While the PlayStation Portable (PSP) couldn’t match the Nintendo DS in terms of overall sales, Sony’s first jump into the handheld market was still hugely successful, with nearly 80 million units sold worldwide – even if the lion’s share of that was in Japan.

Unfortunately, Sony’s interest in handhelds came to a halt after the failure of its successor, the PS Vita, which is estimated to have only sold somewhere between 10 and 15 million units during its short four-year lifespan, from 2011 to 2015.

The company has dabbled in handheld devices since, notably with last year’s PlayStation Portal, which is used to stream PlayStation 5 games through Remote Play (and sold better than expected), but new reports suggest Sony might be planning to launch an entirely new portable console.

This rumour comes from Russian insider Anton Logvinov, who previously leaked PC ports for Death Stranding and Horizon Zero Dawn. In a post (shared on ResetEra), Logvinov claims Sony is gearing up to launch a new PSP which will be able to run PlayStation 4 games.

The post notes that there are ‘only’ PS4 games on the console’s launch line-up, but it’s unclear whether the system will support games from other PlayStation formats. The implication is that, unlike the PlayStation Portal, they can be played natively and so don’t requiring streaming to work.

This rumour hasn’t come out of nowhere either. In February this year, YouTuber Moore’s Law Is Dead, who leaked the PS5 Pro specifications, also claimed Sony is in early development on a handheld device which is ‘at least two years out’. He also claimed the device would be able to run PlayStation 4 games natively, as well as certain PlayStation 5 games at a lower resolution with a patch.

Coincidently, or not, Sony Interactive Entertainment in Japan recently posted a job listing for a role within its system software development team which describes creating a system to allow ‘entertainment game consoles to run on game consoles with different architectures’.

More specifically, it refers to enabling ‘a large number of game titles developed for PlayStation to run on the new architecture system’ – which might well be in reference to this rumoured handheld.

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When you consider Nintendo’s huge success with the Switch, and now with Valve’s Steam Deck, it makes sense that other companies would chase the same hybrid console format. Microsoft is already rumoured to be developing an Xbox handheld of some sort sort, so it’s certainly possible Sony is considering something similar.

If this does turn out to be true, this increased competition might cause some problems for Nintendo’s successor to the Switch – which is expected to be announced before April 2025 – but then again the PSP launched alongside the technically inferior Nintendo DS, which went on to become the best-selling portable console ever.

Horizon Forbidden West recently came to PC (Sony Interactive Entertainment)

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