PlayStation launched a beta for the PlayStation Portal in 2024 that let users stream games to the device without having to go through their PS5 first. That feature has now been expanded upon in a big way and rolled out to everybody, provided they’re subscribed to PS Plus Premium.

PlayStation has dubbed today’s Portal update as one of its biggest yet via the PlayStation Blog, and based on what the device is now capable of, it’s not wrong. The main thing holding the Portal back when it launched in 2023 was that you could only play games through Remote Play. That meant your PS5 needed to be switched on and couldn’t be used for anything else while streaming to the Portal.

Thousands Of PS5 Games Are Available Through Cloud Streaming

That is no longer the case. The Portal’s cloud streaming beta period is over, and not only can you now use the device without being tethered to a PS5, whether you’re a part of the beta or not, but the library of games that can be streamed directly through the Portal has been expanded from hundreds to thousands.

The Portal’s cloud streaming beta was compatible with 120 PS5 games, with select titles from the PS Plus Classics Catalog added at a later date. Now that cloud streaming has been given its full release on the Portal, thousands of games are compatible with the new feature. PlayStation provides examples, including Borderlands 4 and Ghost of Yotei, but it seems like if it’s a PS5 game in your library, you should be able to stream it on your Portal.

Play Something On Your Portal While Someone Else Is Hogging Your PS5

This new update brings the Portal one step closer to being a handheld PS5. While it was technically possible before, it is now far easier to play games on the Portal without having to be near your PS5. Your console can be turned off at home, and, provided you’re somewhere with decent Wifi, you can play games on your Portal without having to be anywhere near your PS5.

It also means you can use the Portal while someone else is using the PS5 to do something entirely different, which, I’ll be honest, is the real game-changer for me. Since the PS5 is needed for Remote Play on the Portal, it meant the console was otherwise occupied while the device was being used. If you’re streaming on the Portal, it means someone else can use the PS5 to play or watch something else.

The Portal still isn’t technically a PlayStation handheld, of course, and there are still a lot of caveats in place that prevent it from becoming one. The need for a Premium subscription and a strong WiFi connection, and a limited, albeit now much larger, library of games to choose from when streaming, among those caveats. However, at $200, if it does everything you want it to do, it is considerably cheaper than every other handheld on the market.