It’s been a big week for Sony. The PS5 has officially been announced for a Holiday 2020 release, and the PS4 7.0 firmware update introduced some significant new features to Sony’s eighth-gen console. Though it made some major changes to PSN Party Chat, the most talked-about aspect of the system renovation has to be the remote play rework.
Remote play existed on the PS4 for the entirety of the console’s existence. However, it was only compatible with the PS Vita—which nobody owns—and select Sony mobile devices… which nobody owns. Fortunately, 7.0 expanded the feature, making it compatible with most Android devices. This means that anyone with an Android-compatible phone in their pocket can play PlayStation 4 games on the go. The new update also coincides with a small quality-of-life patch for iOS remote play, the game streaming app itself having been available since March of this year on the platform.
The most interesting part of this whole affair is that PlayStation’s remote play isn’t reliant on both the console and phone being on the same network, and, so long as you have access to a stable connection, you can theoretically play PS4 games just about anywhere. It’s a major leap forward for on-the-go gaming and seemingly another nail in the coffin for the out-of-date Vita and 3DS.
Of course, this does come with a bit of a caveat; while everything is technically playable on your phone, the touchscreen controls definitely aren’t ideal for playing anything remotely complex. Titles like God of War or Grand Theft Auto V certainly weren’t developed with mobile controls in mind, and cramming a bunch of virtual buttons on a single touch screen makes for some very uncomfortable gameplay. What’s more, players are more or less restricted to just their thumbs when gaming on mobile displays, meaning that using the shoulder buttons is an exercise in futility.
Hilariously, the PlayStation remote play app allows for a vertical orientation reminiscent of the original GameBoy, and, while doing this de-clutters the screen, it squishes the gameplay into a little box at the top of the screen and makes anything more complex than a walking simulator borderline unplayable—assuming you don’t have some sort of massive phablet at your disposal.
Another kicker is that your phone needs to be running either Android 10 or iOS 13 to be able to wirelessly connect a DS4 controller, which isn’t compatible with all devices. Though it’s not necessarily a dealbreaker, it could significantly hinder the overall experience.
That said, it’s nice to see Sony finally give up on the remote play first-party hostage situation they’ve kept up for most of the generation. With Apple Arcade, Xbox Game Pass, and Google Stadia all making moves, gaming is once again shifting away from the television, and Sony is smart to make an attempt to capitalize on this trend. This console generation may be swiftly coming to an end, but this may indicate that features of this sort will be available on day one when the PS5 drops next December.