Sony officially entered the ring against Xbox cloud gaming with PS5 game streaming for PlayStation Portal last week. It’s currently exclusive to PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers, but Portal users can enjoy hundreds of titles from the Game Catalog and select games from their library, even if the console is off.
However, even in terms of Remote Play, the device has come a long way since 2023. Before PS5 game streaming officially went live, senior manager of product management, Takuro Fushimi, revealed that the Portal has topped usage among other PlayStation devices. Yes, even the PS5.
“Before we launched the Portal, some questioned whether there would be demand for it, as it is such a unique product, being a dedicated Remote Play device to start with. However, we’ve seen the community’s response has been overwhelming,” he told Tech Radar Gaming.
“Our data shows that PlayStation portal users are more engaged than non-users. [The] PlayStation portal has now become the most widely used device for PlayStation 5 Remote Play, surpassing mobile PC, PS5, and PS4.”
Fushimi maintained that it’s a “complementary device to the console and not a standalone yet” with the average gameplay session lasting around two hours. However, with the release of PS5 game streaming, that could change.
“Now, with this new update, our goal is to provide more options for PS5 players to enjoy their games, attract more PS5 users to PlayStation Portal and PlayStation Plus, and to drive PS5 user engagement even further.”
Time will tell how well it works, but other features – purchasing content from the PlayStation Store and accepting multiplayer invites – are a game-changer. One has to wonder if perhaps Sony is looking at its success for the inevitable PS6, which is rumored to have a handheld version.
