Major Cloud Gaming Update Released for PlayStation Portal

About a year into the life of its handheld gaming gadget, PlayStation has introduced an exciting update for the PS Portal.

In a blog update released on Wednesday, the company revealed they have rolled out a system software update for their remote gaming device, launched back in November 2023.

This fresh update, available to all users now, features a beta version of cloud streaming support for the Portal. For those subscribed to PlayStation Plus Premium, this means you can dive into the PS5 game catalog on your Portal without needing to own a PS5 or hassle with moving your console around. Just a heads up, PS4 and PS3 games won’t make the cut in this offering.

For reference, if you’re curious about the latest in gaming, take note of the Game Awards 2024 nominations to see which titles are vying for top honors.

When it comes to streaming on PS Portal, expect up to 1080p/60fps, paired with cool features like haptic feedback thanks to the DualSense controllers flanking the LCD screen. Plus, with the cloud beta, you can save your games with PlayStation Plus Cloud storage, offering up to 100GB that will sync with your PS5, provided you own one.

Last year, Mashable took the PS Portal for a spin. Their reporter, Alex Perry, pointed out an inherent issue with game streaming devices: latency. He mentioned, “While there’s inevitably a tiny, almost invisible delay between pressing a button and the action on-screen, thankfully for many games, this isn’t a bother at all.”

Perry also highlighted, “Latency may not be a big issue, but visual hiccups pop up more frequently. Games running at 60 frames per second on a PS5 will generally perform the same on the Portal, yet not consistently. I noticed frequent minor dips, seemingly more related to my WiFi connection than the games themselves. Although not crucial for many games, for shooters and racing titles, it can be a setback.”

Hiromi Wakai, Sony Interactive Entertainment’s VP of Product Management, mentioned in the blog post that they are “just beginning public testing of cloud streaming on PS Portal.” Some features, however, will be missing at this stage, including Game Trials, streaming games bought on the PS Store, certain system features like Party voice chat and game invites for selected games, the Create button, 3D audio, and in-game commerce.

This PS Portal update doesn’t stop there; it also brings a set of audio enhancements. One is an improvement that lets you lower the speaker audio output beyond the usual minimum setting. Users can also tweak settings on the Portal to adjust linked PlayStation Link USB devices.

For those passionate about the intersection of gaming and PlayStation, it’s an intriguing time to follow these developments.