Tech Desk 
Aug 23, 2025
Sony is sitting out the rapid growth of the handheld gaming market after it failed to replicate the success of the PlayStation Portable (PSP) with its last major handheld, the PlayStation Vita.
The PSP sold over 76 million units worldwide after its debut in 2004, making it an obvious fan favourite.
In comparison, after the PlayStation Vita launched in 2011, we never found out how well it did, as it never reached the same success, and Sony never reported any sales numbers.
In 2023 Sony made a minor return to handhelds with the PlayStation Portal. The PlayStation Portal is not a traditional handheld console but rather a remote play device.
It is essentially an accessory that lets players remotely play games streamed from a PlayStation 5 console via the internet. Sony did not submit data to an industry tracker, but analysts suggest it has sold around 2 million units.
"Remote play still impacts a very small portion of the overall audience, but it's growing, and it's showing potential for the future," said Mat Piscatella at gaming data firm Circana. This means that, while Sony has no ambition to establish a portable gaming kingdom, its trajectory could influence a future direction.
