Sony’s next PlayStation handheld might finally be the portable console fans have been asking for. If the rumors are true, users will have a machine that can actually run PlayStation games instead of streaming them from somewhere else.
Leaked AMD documents suggest Sony is working on a new handheld alongside the PlayStation 6, with both devices reportedly targeting a late 2027 launch. Here is all we know about the reported development.
This is not another cloud-streaming experiment
Usually, Sony’s handheld games lets you play PS5 games remotely, but the actual game is still running on your PS5. Your handheld is basically receiving a very fancy video feed over Wi-Fi. The rumored PS6 handheld would be a completely different beast.
The leaked information reportedly describes it as a standalone console capable of running games locally, so you wouldn’t need to stream your games from a PS6 sitting at home. That puts it much closer to the Steam Deck philosophy: download the game, fire it up and play. Except this one would apparently have access to decades of PlayStation games.
PS4 and PS5 games coming along for the ride
The rumored handheld is reportedly built around an AMD chip using RDNA 5 graphics architecture and Zen 6 CPU cores. The architecture is reportedly designed to handle PS6-era games locally while also supporting older PlayStation titles.
According to claims from hardware leaker Moore’s Law Is Dead, an older AMD document explicitly references backward compatibility for PS4 and PS5 on Sony’s next-generation hardware. The document reportedly also references the handheld, codenamed “Canis,” and indicates that it would support PS4, PS5, and PS6 games.
Sony has sold hundreds of millions of PlayStation consoles across those generations, giving the company an enormous library to pull from. Instead of buying a shiny new console and immediately wondering which old games won’t work on it, PS6 owners could theoretically carry a massive chunk of the PlayStation catalog into the next generation.
It may be more than one PS6 on the way
The leaks also point toward Sony potentially developing three PS6 variants: a standard model, a cheaper “S”-style version and the handheld. If that actually happens, Sony could be taking a page from Microsoft’s hardware strategy by offering different performance and price tiers as opposed to one option.
2027 could be the target, but don’t set a reminder yet
Current reports point toward a late 2027 release, with component production potentially ramping up around the middle of that year. But this is not set in stone, especially given the issue of hardware costs lurking in the background.
RAM prices are rising, semiconductor manufacturing capacity remains tight, and GPU-related costs could make producing a powerful handheld significantly more expensive. Those problems could push Sony’s plans into 2028.
Nothing is certain, though, as the world awaits an official announcement from Sony.