Sony has a new version of the PlayStation Portal, but most players will never be able to buy it. The PlayStation Portal Player Midnight Black launches in Japan on Dec 10, 2026, for 39,980 yen, about $252. It adds one thing the original never had: internal storage Sony will not explain yet.
What Sony announced
Sony announced the new model on Nov 9 on the Japanese PlayStation Blog. The name drops the word Remote, so the device is now the PlayStation Portal Player instead of the PlayStation Portal Remote Player. The screen is the same 1080p LCD, and the device is still built around streaming PS5 games over Wi-Fi, plus cloud streaming through PlayStation Plus Premium for players without a console.
The new part is internal storage, which Sony describes as included “with an eye towards future functionality.” Sony has not said how much storage was added, what it will be used for, or when it will share more details.
The price is unchanged from the current model in Japan: 39,980 yen including tax, about $252 at current rates. Pre-orders open Nov 13 at 10 AM Japan time. Every unit includes a one-month PlayStation Plus Premium voucher, which opens the Game Catalog and Classics Catalog, including cloud-streamed PS5 games such as Final Fantasy XVI, Rise of the Ronin, and The Exit 8.
The catch is the region lock. The Midnight Black model is Japanese language only and works only with a PlayStation account registered in Japan. Sony has announced no plans to sell this model in North America or Europe.
Why the storage is the story
The original Portal never needed built-in storage because it streams everything. Adding storage hints that Sony has something else planned, but Sony has not said the storage means game downloads or native play, and nothing about this model changes the fact that it is a streaming device today. Dataminers have estimated the current model has about 6GB of internal storage that players cannot use.
The Portal has grown since launch. Sony added cloud gaming support in 2025, so Premium subscribers can play supported games without owning a PS5. The bundled Premium month leans into that pitch: the handheld can now be a way to play PS5 games without a console at all. Polygon reports the original sold an estimated 420,000 units in the US in its first year, praised for its build and screen quality, even as reviewers noted that connection hiccups hit gameplay hard.
Why Japan only
Sony has done this before. It released a region-locked, Japan-only PS5 Digital Edition, and Nintendo released a Japan-only Switch 2. The approach keeps hardware affordable for domestic buyers while the yen stays weak. The Portal Player follows the same playbook: a domestic model at a domestic price, locked to Japanese accounts. For more on Sony hardware news, see our report on Sony delaying the Pulse Elevate speakers indefinitely.
What it means for players outside Japan
For now, nothing changes. The current PlayStation Portal, at $199.99, remains the only model on sale outside Japan, and importing the new one will not work because of the language and account locks. The real story is what Sony does with the extra storage. If a later update brings downloads, native play, or new features, this Japan-only model will be the first sign. Until Sony says more, the storage is a promise, not a feature.
The PS Plus catalog keeps growing too: Dragon Quest 3 joins PS Plus Extra in November, and it is one of the games Premium subscribers can stream through the Portal.
Sources: Sony Interactive Entertainment via the Japanese PlayStation Blog; Polygon; Proven Gamer.
