PlayStation Portal can stream your PS5 games without a PS5 now

Portable gaming consoles We are witnessing a wild development recently, from Nintendo Switch 2 to laptops Run Windows and steam. Meanwhile, Sony’s two-year-old semi-standalone portable device, the playstation portal, It’s getting an update that frees you up from the PlayStation 5 to cloud stream PS5 games, provided you have the right subscription. It gets 3D audio support for game streaming as well.

However, downloaded games still cannot be played offline. The Portal is a portable streaming-only device, but this new update seems to make it feel more like a second device than a PlayStation 5 extension. This raises the question: Will Sony eventually make a true portable device of its own?

“Portal is part of the PS5 family, and is still a complementary device to a console that is not yet a standalone,” Takuro Fushimi, senior director of product management at Sony PlayStation, told me via video chat. But the streaming update may allow someone with one account to play PS5 games while another person plays on another account on PS5, so it’s definitely now unrestricted. Fushimi said the Portal is also Sony’s current most-used device for streaming PS5 games, even via phones and tablets, though specific sales numbers were not shared.

Streaming via subscription: Works the same as on PS5

The new cloud streaming update is the first time Sony has considered taking it out of beta since the feature Appeared in 2024. Previously, the portal could stream a selection of older games via a PlayStation Plus subscription as well as stream games from a synced PlayStation 5 console.

Now, a subset of proprietary PlayStation 5 games will also get full cloud streaming support without having to turn on a PS5 at all. Game library support matches what’s already possible on PS5 already, and new streamable games will be housed in a new interface.

You need to PlayStation Plus Premium Subscribe to access these streamable games, which costs $18 per month or $160 per year.

How it’s different from other ways to play PlayStation games on the go

Portal and PS5 are the only two consoles with PS5 cloud streaming support, but phones and tablets can play locally streamed games remotely on PlayStation 5 using an app that works with the game consoles. There are some PlayStation games that are on Steam and can be played on Steam Decks and Windows portable game consoles as well.

However, the portal has its own advantages. Adaptive feedback triggers and haptic vibrations mirror the feel of a DualSense controller, something you can’t get otherwise. The new software update also supports 3D audio with plugged-in headphones or Pulse wireless headphones paired with Portal. But it’s still a streaming-only device.

Could Sony have a real portable device next?

The development of Portal makes me wonder if we’ll see a true standalone successor to the PSP and PS Vita. I asked Fushimi where Sony stands in the mobile space now compared to the rest of the high-end landscape. “We have our own way of thinking about mobile devices,” Fushimi said. “Live streaming and remote play is our approach to bringing that immersion and quality to the PS5 family as a whole for this console.”

So, yes, it’s still a PS5 accessory. But it’s closer than ever to being its own mobile device.