PlayStation quietly confirms you no longer need a PS5 console for PS5 games

Incredible news for people who love PlayStation games but hate PlayStation consoles, as Sony has just announced that there’s a brand new way to play over 100 PlayStation titles without the need to own a PS5.

Sound too good to be true? Well, there is a catch, but it’s not entirely straightforward to explain so bear with me here.

As revealed on the official PlayStation Blog, an update for the PlayStation Portal was rolled out on Wednesday that introduced a pretty huge, much-requested feature.

Some of you might (understandably) have no idea what a PlayStation Portal is.

The device launched back in November 2023 and was initially touted as a PlayStation 5 accessory.

It’s a handheld device that essentially connects itself to a PS5 so you can play any of the titles you own, either offline (if you’re close enough to a console) or online (if you’re not).

Now you might not have heard of PlayStation Portal because, whilst sales numbers have reportedly been quite strong, it’s still a bit of a niche, somewhat limited device.

That is until now. The new update will now allow PlayStation Portal owners to play “over 120 PS5 games from the PS Plus Game Catalog” without the need to even own a console.

These titles include, but are not limited to, “Dave the Diver, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Monster Hunter Rise, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart”.

Sounds incredible, but here are all those catches I warned you about.

Biggest one first: you don’t download the titles, you stream them directly to the PlayStation Portal using this method. Better hope you’ve got good internet.

Second catch: you’ll need a PlayStation Plus Premium subscription. If you don’t own a PlayStation 5, then you can’t play select titles that are available without an active PS Plus Premium subscription.

The final, and perhaps biggest, catch: PS4 and PS3 games are not supported (and never will be, by the sounds of things), regardless of whether they’re available through PlayStation Plus Premium or not.

Still, even in light of all of those detractions, it’s a welcome update.

Welcome enough to convince any non-PlayStation owners to drop £200 (plus a monthly subscription) on a PlayStation Portal? Ehh, I’d wager no, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.