Cloud gaming comes to PlayStation Portal with new update

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Good news, PlayStation fans! Sony’s finally dragging the PS Portal into the cloud gaming era.

But, because this is Sony, it’s a beta. And, because this is Sony, you’ll need a PS Plus Premium subscription to join the party. But hey, who doesn’t love a good beta test, right?

The update, which started rolling out today, lets you stream over 120 PS5 games from the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog directly to your PlayStation Portal.

That’s right, no PS5 console needed. Well, as long as you have a stable internet connection and a willingness to tolerate some potential lag. After all, cloud gaming isn’t perfect.

To get in on the action, you’ll need a minimum of 7 Mbps connection for 720p streaming or 13 Mbps for 1080p.

Not exactly blazing fast, but hey, it’s a start. And, who knows, maybe the beta will iron out some of those pesky latency issues. A gamer can dream, right?

But before you get too excited, there are some caveats. This is a Sony beta, after all.

Some PlayStation Plus features won’t work with cloud streaming on the Portal, like Game Trials, party voice chat, and in-game purchases.

And you won’t be able to stream any PS4 or PS3 games. Because, priorities.

The beta is available in a bunch of countries, including Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, the United States and countless others.

How to access Sony’s Cloud Streaming (Beta)

So, how do you get in on this cloudy action? Here are the steps, straight from the horse’s mouth:

• Open “Quick Menu” and access “Settings” on your PS Portal.
• Select the “Cloud Streaming (Beta)” button
• Switch the Cloud Streaming (Beta) toggle on (this will be off by default).
• After you’ve enabled Cloud Streaming (Beta) in the settings menu, you should see a new option on the Home screen of your PS Portal that allows you to access games via cloud streaming. The beta option can be turned off any time, and your Home screen will revert back to the standard version once the option is turned off.

Is it worth it? Well, that depends on how much you love cloud gaming and your willingness to tolerate some potential lag. But hey, it’s a beta, so at least you can’t say Sony didn’t warn you.

Now that the PS Portal has entered the cloud gaming era, we want to hear from you! Are you excited to stream PS5 games directly to your Portal, or are you concerned about potential lag and limitations? Share your thoughts on the pros and cons of cloud gaming in the comments below.

Kevin Raposo

Kevin is KnowTechie's founder and executive editor. With over 15 years of blogging experience in the tech industry, Kevin has transformed what was once a passion project into a full-blown tech news publication. Shoot him an email at kevin@knowtechie.com or find him on Mastodon or Post.