The Nintendo Switch 2 could have some competition as the best gaming handheld with a potentially portable PS6, depending on how you interpret comments made by Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino about next-gen console development.
Whispers of a handheld PS6 console have been twirling in the wind for some while now. One recent rumor suggested the handheld could match the ROG Xbox Ally X when it comes to memory, while another told everyone to not bother thinking about the possibility of a PS6 Portable until at least 2028 – and Nishino has now poured fuel over all the gossip.
Speaking to Famitsu, in quotes translated by IGN, the PlayStation boss says today's consoles have to consider the importance of a "pick up and play" quality. The company will also be "leveraging technologies that can be used in various forms and locations" when making new game consoles in the future, according to him, which will lead to "something exciting."
"For example, although the PlayStation brand is strongly associated with playing on the TV in the living room, we're planning to release monitors and speakers so that people can play comfortably in other locations as well," he adds. "We developed the PlayStation Portal as part of this initiative."
Of course, PlayStation's tried to enter the handheld arena multiple times. It started with the very weird and also very cool Japan-exclusive PocketStation. The PSP then served as the company's biggest handheld statement yet, giving Nintendo a run for its money with over 70 million units sold, before the PS Vita subsequently crashed a generation later.
Since then, Sony's only dipped its toes into the market with the PlayStation Portal, a device that can stream games or enable remote play from a connected PS5. It's more an accessory than a standalone gaming handheld, but it's been pretty successful, all things considered. Nishino says the amount of people using cloud streaming on the PlayStation Portal "in January 2026 was 1.5 times that of December 2025."
Either way, streaming isn't the future for Sony. Consoles are. "My belief that a console is necessary for playing games hasn't changed,” he continues.
A portable PS6 device definitely isn't official – with the ongoing RAMpocalypse, nothing in the hardware space is certain – but it definitely sounds like something the console maker is at least thinking about.
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