Summary
ThePlayStationPortalis already sold out in many places around the world weeks ahead of its planned release. This promising start to its pre-order period indicates that thebiggest drawback to PlayStation’s first handheld in over a decade—its inability to operate as a standalone console—might not stand in the way of it becoming a commercial success.
First unveiled in late May as Project Q, thePlayStation Portal finally received its official name and pricetag three months later. But the gap between those milestones was nothing compared to the $199.99 handheld’s overall development cycle, which some recently surfaced evidence pegged as starting no later than 2015. Eight years later, Sony opened pre-orders for the device on September 29.
Sony never revealed the maximum pre-order volume that it intends to fulfill ahead of the gizmo’s debut, making it impossible to accurately assess just how well the PlayStation Portal is already selling during this pre-release period. Its closest comparison point is the PS VR2, whose early demand never exceeded its planned supply in the run-up to its February 2023 launch. Nevertheless, the VR accessory for the PS5 still sold 600,000 units in its first three months on the market, with Sony confirming as much back in May.
Based on that limited context, and assuming the PlayStation Portal didn’t have a smaller pre-order volume than the PS VR2, it’s possible that the upcoming handheld hits a million sales not long after its release. Its potential customer pool is approximately 40 million strong, which ishow many PS5 consoles Sony soldas of July.
It remains to be seen whether any of the retailers who are no longer accepting advanced orders for the handheld open another wave of pre-orders ahead of its mid-November launch. That notwithstanding, this early market performance indicates that thePlayStation Portal’s promise of a portable PS5 screen with long battery lifehas already enticed many gamers to open their wallets, even if the device itself doesn’t rival standalone handhelds like the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.
