Resurfaced documents have shown that, as far back as 2015, Sony was already playing with the idea of developing a handheld device very similar to the recently revealed PlayStation Project Q. During the 2023 PlayStation Showcase on May 24, Sony confirmed that it had been working on a PlayStation handheld device, though it turned out to not be quite what many people were expecting.
Internally dubbed Project Q, the portable device will not be a standalone console but rather a streaming platform for playing PS5 games via Remote Play over wi-fi. And it’s also rumored that the PlayStation handheld will only have a 3-4 hour battery life, according to industry insider Tom Henderson. However, Sony has confirmed that Project Q will sport an 8-inch HD LCD screen that supports a resolution of up to 1080p, which is a step up from what Valve’s Steam Deck natively supports.
Many people on social media seem to be a bit disappointed by the appearance and functionality of PlayStation’s Project Q, with some saying that it seems hurriedly thrown together to get in on the burgeoning portable gaming market. However, as far back as 2015, Sony had already filed a patent for a device that looks remarkably like Project Q. Though the innovative PlayStation DualSense controller wouldn’t be unveiled for another five years, everything else about the 2015 device seems similar to what was finally revealed at the PlayStation Showcase.
It seems that Sony was testing out a couple of designs for a handheld gaming device. Another patent was filed in 2021, which also resembles Project Q and looks closer to the final design, with DualShock 4 controller handles on either side of the screen. This patent also mentioned a motion sensor that would detect how much the device was tilted and in which direction, similar to what is found in the DualShock 4 and DualSense.
The official reveal of the Project Q PlayStation handheld device might coincide with the releases of the Steam Deck, Logitech G Cloud, and upcoming Asus ROG Ally, demonstrating the growing popularity of portable gaming systems. However, it also jives with the Japanese company’s already announced move into mobile gaming in general. Sony currently has multiple studios working on mobile games and is making a more aggressive push into both that space and cloud gaming.
Though some people may be hoping that Sony will take initial reactions to its Project Q announcement and make slight tweaks to the handheld, given that there’s now been an official reveal, it’s probably not possible to make fundamental adjustments to its functionality. But it may be the beginning of a new era of PlayStation handhelds, and hopefully there won’t be a 12-year gap between the release of Project Q and the next device like there was with the PlayStation Vita.
Sources: Digital Trends, VGC