The PlayStation Portal is finally getting PS Plus cloud streaming

Sony has announced that the PlayStation Portal will finally get support for PlayStation Plus game streaming, fixing one of the most glaring omissions from the remote play device’s feature set.

PS Plus game streaming on PS Portal has now been added in a new system software update, and is available to PS Plus Premium members, allowing a selection of PS5 games to be streamed directly from the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog.

Once you’ve updated, you need to opt in. You do this via:

1. Open “Quick Menu” and access “Settings” on your PS Portal.
2. Select the “Cloud Streaming (Beta)” button
3. Switch the Cloud Streaming (Beta) toggle on (this will be off by default).

The features available for the cloud gaming beta are:

• Stream select PS5 games in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog
  • Over 120 PS5 games from the PS Plus Game Catalog, including Dave the Diver, Ghost of Tsushima, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Monster Hunter Rise, and Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, will be accessible on PS Portal via cloud streaming*
• Streaming up to 1080p/60fps**
• DualSense wireless controller features, including haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, speakers, touchpad (emulated on the touch screen for PS Portal), and motion sensor***
• PlayStation Plus Cloud storage
  • Save data and game progress can be stored up to 100GB and will be automatically synced with your PS5 console, making it easy to switch seamlessly between local and streaming gameplay, and between multiple devices.

It is initially being labelled as a beta, and does have some minor compromises and feature limitations, when compared to the regular remote play experience from a home PS5 console and PS Plus in general. The biggest limitation is that you can only play PS5 games, with PS4 and PS3 game streams quite bizarrely locked off from the PS Portal. You also can’t use Game Trials, you also cannot stream games purchased from the PS Store, and you can’t use system features like party chat, the Create button, 3D audio or in-game purchases.

Elsewhere, the system update does also fix one of the more aggravating aspects of the PS Portal, that it was just so damn loud on its quietest setting! The update patch notes also include:

• Speaker audio output adjustment to make the volume lower when the audio level is set to minimum
• You will now be able to adjust settings of your PlayStation Link device from the PS Portal Settings menu, allowing you to optimize the volume and sidetone volume.

Sadly there’s still no support for generic Bluetooth headphones. It’s either Sony’s locked in PlayStation Link headphones and earbuds, or you’d better have a wired headset handy.

Nobody knows why it took Sony quite so long to figure out that the PS Portal should be a PS Plus streaming device – literally everybody could see this is what it should be able to do – but it’s great to see them finally get around to adding the feature.

We’ll just have to see how well it performs in that role, considering that the streaming experience from a PS5 console to Portal isn’t always the best.

Source: PS Blog