Now is the Perfect Time for Sony to Release a PS Vita 2

It’s been nearly 12 whole years since the release of the PlayStation Vita.

The handheld didn’t rake in sales for Sony back in 2012, but it could finally be the perfect time to bring some justice to the Vita name. Sony must be aware of the recent gaming handheld craze since industry leaker Moore’s Law is Dead has revealed that the company is in early development with its next PlayStation handheld.

Sony may have just released the PlayStation Portal, but a portable, standalone PlayStation experience — not a streaming device for your PS5 — is an entirely different story. Considering the continued success of the Nintendo Switch and the Steam Deck, Sony would be wise to jump back into the handheld market with a follow-up to the Vita now that handhelds are back in vogue.

PS4 And PS5 Compatibility

Moore’s Law is Dead confirmed that Sony is working on another PlayStation handheld, but there’s no official indication that this is happening just yet. The YouTuber speculates that the Vita successor could offer native PS4 backward compatibility, meaning any digital games you have for PS4 would run on this potential PlayStation handheld.

The handheld may be able to handle PS5 games too, although with worse performance. Moore’s Law is Dead also speculates that this PlayStation handheld could run a custom APU from AMD and come with a GPU that runs at 1.8GHz or lower to work with PS5’s variable clock speeds. As for what it could look like on the outside, it’s still way too early in the process so we have no hints as to what Sony is thinking for a modern Vita design.

Far From a Finished Product

This is the first real rumor we’ve heard about this upcoming PlayStation handheld, so we have to exercise some skepticism here. The leaker even indicates that this Sony device is only in the “High-Level Design” phase meaning that it’s at least two years away and hasn’t even been greenlit yet. Moore’s Law is Dead also mentions that the handheld could be a part of the upcoming PlayStation 6 lineup and offered as a less powerful handheld alternative in Japan.

It’s too early to say how Sony would price its rumored handheld, but we’re expecting it to be more expensive than the original Vita’s $250 starting price considering the improved specs. It also wouldn’t be too much of a stretch if Sony priced this PlayStation handheld above its $199 Portal since it’s a standalone device.