During today’s PlayStation Showcase, Sony revealed a ton of new upcoming games, and it officially revealed the Project Q handheld. While all the details haven’t been revealed, Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan does highlight a few key things.
The device will have an 8-inch HD display and as previously reported, it’ll be a device designed specifically for the PS5’s Remote Play feature. In a short segment of the reveal, Sony confirms that games must be installed on PS5 to play them on the Project Q PlayStation handheld.
So there is unfortunately no way to install games on the device locally. Which many were probably hoping for. Project Q is essentially the display flanked on both sides by the DualSense controller grips. Complete with all the same buttons. In fact, Sony says it comes with all the same DualSense features too. Which means you can expect the advanced haptics, and adaptive triggers to be present.
The Project Q PlayStation handheld will launch later in 2023
Although Sony isn’t sharing too many details about the device, it has given us a time window on launch. The plan is to launch the device later this year. So it is coming in 2023. Provided Sony is able to keep to its planned date.
The word is still out on a lot of important pieces of information though. When exactly it’s launching for example, as well as price. Which could be a major factor in people deciding to pick it up. The PS5 is already an expensive console at $500.
And it’s hard to imagine too many people wanting to spend hundreds more on a dedicated PlayStation handheld for Remote Play when Android and iOS phones already serve that purpose. But, if the price is right, a lot of PS5 owners might snap one up.
Project Q is launching alongside PlayStation earbuds with lossless audio
It’s not exactly clear if the handheld will come with any accessories. But it will seemingly launch at the same time as Sony’s upcoming PlayStation true wireless earbuds. These will have lossless audio and Sony confirms they’ll be targeted at PS5 and PC players. Noting they’ll work for both platforms. And judging by the fact they were shown alongside Project Q in the showcase, they’ll probably work with that too.
As of now it looks like Project Q will only work over Wi-Fi and since games must be installed on the console, cloud gaming isn’t going to be an option. Though there’s always the chance that it comes later. If you missed the showcase and want to watch it, you can see the whole thing here.
2023-05-25 15:09:54