Playing games in the cloud with the PlayStation Portal has never been an option and Sony made this perfectly clear prior to the handheld’s launch, even if adding it was a no-brainer and what many thought would be accessible. Regardless, Sony launched the PlayStation Portal as nothing more than a remote player to use with the PS5. You power on your PS5 or PS5 Pro, you power on the PlayStation Portal, and you’ll be able to stream games from your console.
This was intended to be a way to play your PS5 without having to see the content on the screen it was connected to. It works perfectly for situations where someone wants to watch TV while you want to play games. It’s also a great option if you just want to play PS5 games in a different room than the console. Soon, however, the PlayStation Portal will support cloud games from the PlayStation Plus library. You’ll need to be subscribed to PlayStation Plus Premium to access this feature, however.
PlayStation Portal can play PS5 cloud games following an update
If you own a PlayStation Portal, then chances are you’ve wanted to stream games from the cloud to it. Because it just makes sense. Users who have requested this feature will soon get their wish. Sony has confirmed in a PlayStation Blog post that following an update for the device, users will be able to access the cloud streaming feature. As mentioned, you’ll need to be a PlayStation Plus Premium subscriber to access the cloud streaming.
The update is rolling out starting today in the US, with updates headed to users in Europe on November 20. Once the update is live and you’ve installed it, cloud streaming should be available.
The cloud gaming feature is currently in beta
Although the feature is rolling out to US users today, the feature is still in beta. Sony has laid out a list of which features will be available in the beta, and it seems like almost everything you’d want is accessible. Save perhaps for a few things, like 4K visual quality.
There are over 120 PS5 games in the PS Plus catalog that you can stream, and all of them will be playable on PlayStation Portal with this beta feature. Streaming will be capped at 1080p resolution though and frame rates will stick to 60 frames per second. You can also expect DualSense features like adaptive triggers, haptic feedback, and more. PlayStation Plus cloud storage will also be available so you can save your games.
To stream PS5 games to your PlayStation Portal there are internet speed requirements. But they’re nothing that hasn’t been seen before. Streaming at 720p requires a mere 7Mbps down which just about everyone should have with modern internet these days. Even bumping up to streaming in 180p only has a minimum requirement of 13Mbps down.
There are some things that won’t be accessible. For example, you won’t be able to stream PS4 or PS3 games. You also can’t stream games that have been purchased from the PS Store. Game trials will not be available in the beta either. Still, even with these limitations, the PlayStation Portal is getting some new life breathed into it with this feature.
