Rumored PlayStation handheld unlikely to be a Vita 2

Rumors around Sony’s handheld plans are floating about

Rumors about new consoles or handhelds being in development at Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony are basically around all the time – in Sony’s case, the release of internal documents has been fueling the fire recently. There is speculation that the company is working on a PS5 Pro with a few improvements compared to the PS5, which has entered its third year, and some people even propagate the idea that a PS6 is already on the way.

Industry experts have their doubts about that, seeing as how the PS5 only this year became widely available due to the global chip shortage, but the rumor mill will doubtlessly grind on. Slightly more plausible are rumors about a handheld device being in development at Sony.

Following the financial flop that was the PS Vita, Sony retreated from that market believing that gamers simply weren’t interested in handheld consoles anymore. However, a decade has since passed and fellow Japanese company Nintendo has achieved impressive results with the partly portable Nintendo Switch and fully handheld Switch Lite.

Even for PC games, which are traditionally the furthest removed from this market, handheld options have sprung up recently and saw enormous interest and growth. Valve’s Steam Deck celebrated a successful launch and now ASUS has announced a competitor. Perhaps Sony, seeing these signs, changed its opinion as well? Enough rumors around Sony’s handheld ambitions are certainly floating around.

If you were thinking about something like a Vita 2, you’d probably score a miss, though. Games journalist Jeff Grubb put a bit of a break to the developing hype train on Twitter, saying he “would definitely scope down these expectations. I’ve only ever heard about a cloud-streaming handheld.”

I am traveling to Super Nintendo World, but I see the reports about a potential Vita 2, and I would definitely scope down those expectations. I've only ever heard about a cloud-streaming handheld.

— Grubb (@JeffGrubb) April 4, 2023

This would likely work in connection with PS Plus, which was massively overhauled last year, if it even comes to fruition.