The cloud-based PlayStation 5 titles, including Fortnite and Destiny 2, are part of the cloud interference enabled by the latest firmware release of the PlayStation Portal, which was published on 10 December 2025.
The update undermines the fact that it does not have a dedicated handheld console instead of the improvement.
To mitigate this unavailability of native handheld hardware, Sony aims to expand the library of the device by the PlayStation Cloud Beta programme, but the persistent latency and dependence on the Wi-Fi networks demonstrate the limitations of cloud-gaming solutions inherent in it.
Update Breakdown
Cloud Streaming (which has been in beta since November 2024) will now let PlayStation Portal users play their games directly from Sony’s streaming servers, provided they have a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription.
That’s the top tier of Sony’s PS Plus subscription offerings, and costs $159.99 per year or $17.99 per month. Preliminary testing shows a round trip latency of 40-60ms on average in the case of a strong network.
This latency is sufficient to make playing casual but causes a visible stutter in fast-paced shooters. The number of sales also reflects the demand in the market: Ampere Analysis shows that the Portal has sold 1.2 million units since late 2023, but it is still miles behind the 150 million lifetime sales.
Handheld Market Boom
The gaming industry that comes in handhelds is booming. Alinea Analytics estimates that Sony has made $1.5 billion from Steam since beginning to port its first-party titles to the PC storefront.
That may seem like an enormous number, but it’s worth noting it’s taken five years to achieve. For context, the entire PlayStation division generated around $7 billion in revenue during the last quarter alone.
It has been rumored that a Nintendo Switch 2 will be released in March 2026 with first year sales of 15 million units.
Nintendo has increased its Switch 2 sales forecast by over 25%, now expecting to sell 19 million units by March 2026, up from 15 million
Sony has lost an opportunity with the sale of its handheld devices since it left the handheld business in 2019 after discontinuation of Vita.
Why Sony Must Act
The Portal update demonstrates the very fragility of cloud gaming as most of the households in the U.S. do not have broadband of 1 gigabit speed.
Streaming brings battery life to about two hours, whereas the Steam Deck has an endurance of eight hours.
it will be akin to the DualSense controller, which on average lasts around at least six to eight hours in our experience before needing to be charged.
Future Outlook
Sony is reportedly developing a new gaming handheld set for release in 2027. Unlike the PlayStation Portal, this device is said to run PS5 and even PS6 titles natively, no streaming required.
If true, it would compete directly with the Nintendo Switch 2 and upcoming Xbox handhelds. World Data Lab has released its latest World Consumer Outlook, revealing that the world is rapidly approaching a historic milestone: 5 billion people in the consumer class by 2028.
The Outlook projects that the global consumer class will grow to around 4.72 billion people in 2026, up from 4.6 billion in 2025. This means that the world’s 8.1 billion people can now afford a middle-class life, not catering to this market will be a strategic mistake.
It is thus necessary that Sony should aim at developing a PlayStation console that is hardware-driven.
