Sony Interactive Entertainment has said that PlayStation Portal — the upcoming PS5 handheld — isn’t a rival to Steam Deck or the Nintendo Switch. As soon as PS Portal was officially unveiled, players drew comparisons between Sony’s handheld and Steam Deck, arguing that the latter was a better proposition. However, according to Sony, they are far from being a similar product.
PlayStation Portal offers a “different proposition”
Speaking to the BBC, SIE executive Eric Lempel clarified that PS Portal was never meant to be a rival to Steam and Nintendo handhelds — the first time Sony has officially jumped into this discourse. “It’s a different proposition and really just something unique for the PlayStation audience,” Lempel said.
Lempel’s statement seems obvious, considering the Portal doesn’t work without a PS5 and is actually a remote player rather than a full-fledged handheld system. But the aforementioned comparisons are inevitable given its price tag of $199.
“PlayStation Portal is the perfect device for gamers in households where they might need to share their living room TV or simply want to play PS5 games in another room of the house,” Sony said when announcing the device, which will become available on November 15.
