Will the new PlayStation handheld Project Q be able to play games natively?

Sony will re-enter the handheld gaming console market later this year with Project Q, which was announced this summer at the PlayStation State of the Play event. It is worth noting, however, that this device will be different from how the PlayStation Vita or the Nintendo Switch work. The Japanese tech juggernaut is planning to launch the device as an accessory for the PlayStation 5. It won't have any resources to run the video games by itself.

This got gamers upset, who were expecting to see a Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally competitor from the company.

Instead, the upcoming handheld can only play video games via Remote Play, a feature that can already be used to stream video games from the PS5 to devices like a PC or a tablet.

After the brutal failure of the PS Vita in the early 2010s, this is a very safe bet from the console maker. They understand that PS5-grade games cannot be played on a handheld given how intensive they are.

Since the Sony handheld market is more or less dead today, they couldn't bet on launching a different ecosystem either.

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Can the Sony Project Q play video games natively in the future?

The upcoming Project Q handheld (Image via Sony PlayStation)

Sony hasn't revealed any hardware specs for their upcoming video game console yet. Even the name, "Project Q", will likely change as we get closer to the launch date.

All of this makes it too early to comment on whether the device will be able to play video games natively sometime in the future.

The Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch have both already sold millions of units. Thus, it is only natural that Sony is again trying to enter the handheld gaming console market.

Back in the early 2000s, the Japanese home video game console maker used to be a dominator in this segment thanks to the PlayStation Portable (PSP).

It could be possible that the first-gen handheld (or Project Q) will be launched primarily to gauge gamers' interest in a Sony portable gaming machine.

If the product sells a ton of units, the console maker might come up with a more powerful device a few years down the line that will probably be capable of running video games on its hardware.

Another possibility could be cloud gaming. With 5G connectivity now commonplace around the world, streaming console-quality games at high resolutions is easier than ever. Thus, Project Q might also be repurposed as a machine for that.

However, all of this is mere speculation. As per the information available till now, Project Q will be launched as a device that will allow PS5 gamers to enjoy their favorite games without sitting in front of their TV all the time.

This is more like the idea the Wii U tried to pull off but ultimately failed since it was way ahead of its time.