I’m not going to lie, I got my hopes up. I was really looking forward to the PlayStation Portal update that opened up Cloud Streaming.
Having the ability to play any game from anywhere without the need to connect to my PS5 at home would be an absolute game changer for a device I absolutely love.
The PlayStation Portal in my opinion is the second biggest triumph of the current generation of consoles and only slightly behind the DualSense controller itself that is by far the best controller I’ve ever used from any period of gaming.
The latest PlayStation Portal update brings a number of things with it, including a change to the lowest level of volume. This is actually a really good feature as the lowest level previously was still quite loud so having more control over that is a smart move.
The other big addition was a beta version of cloud streaming support. So when the update went live, PlayStation Plus Premium members should be able to participate in a beta for cloud streaming on PS Portal, allowing select PS5 games in the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog to be streamed directly from our servers, even without a PS5 console.
The problem is, I live in Australia and I’m not sure Sony have the servers here, so the update arrived, but cloud streaming didn’t.
So NOT IN AUSTRALIA!!!
Here is what the countries that do have the beta can access:
- 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.
Well, at least now you can see why I was excited for it.
Cloud Streaming (Beta) for PS Portal is currently for these locations:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Cyprus, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.
How You Can Access the Beta
To access the beta, you will need the following:
- PlayStation Portal remote player
- An account for PlayStation Network****
- An active PlayStation Plus Premium membership
- Access to broadband internet Wi-Fi
- To establish a cloud streaming session: requires minimum 5Mbps of upload and download speeds
- To stream at 720p: requires minimum 7 Mbps
- To stream at 1080p: requires minimum 13 Mbps
Once the beta is available, you can access the beta by updating your PS Portal to the latest system software and completing the following steps:
- Open “Quick Menu” and access “Settings” on your PS Portal.
- Select the “Cloud Streaming (Beta)” button
- Switch the Cloud Streaming (Beta) toggle on (this will be off by default).
After you’ve enabled Cloud Streaming (Beta) in the settings menu, you should see a new option on the Home screen of your PS Portal that allows you to access games via cloud streaming. The beta option can be turned off any time, and your Home screen will revert back to the standard version once the option is turned off.
Currently the service is restricted to PS5 games, while PS4 games/PS3 games are not supported (yet).
If you have access, let me know what it’s like, I’m looking forward to when this feature is added to other countries as I really think this could be a game changer for a device that is already impressive.
Doccy Darko
