Sony Interactive Entertainment‘s senior vice president of platform experience, Hideaki Nishino, has said that the PlayStation Portal is designed to increase PS5‘s engagement time and isn’t meant to be a profit-making product. Much has been said about the PS Portal’s limited use as a remote play device, but Sony says that’s precisely what it was intended for.

Sony expects PlayStation Portal to increase PS5 gameplay time

Sony has made no secret of the fact that PS Portal is designed for people who either can’t or don’t want to be in front of a TV screen each time they want to play a video game. The device is meant to allow players to connect to their PS5 to play games without the need to be in a specific location. It’s not for everyone, and Sony acknowledges as much.

Speaking to Japanese site AV Watch, Nishino acknowledged that the PS Portal meets a very specific need of a specific demographic. As long as it increases that demographic’s gameplay time, PS Portal will be considered a success.

“Rather than profitability, we want to increase the amount of time we can play with PS5,” Nishino said. “If you can play anywhere, I think some people will definitely spend more time playing games.”