A new Power Saver option is rolling out for select PlayStation 5 games — and it sounds tailor-made for a portable PlayStation 6 console. The feature, tucked inside the latest system update, lets players scale back performance to reduce power consumption. Is it just me, or does this Power Saver function sound exactly like the setting you’d expect for a battery-powered mobile PS6?
According to the PlayStation Blog, upcoming updates for Death Stranding 2, Demon’s Souls, and Ghost of Yotei will all add support for Power Saver, with more games to follow afterward. The official announcement states this is done to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as part of Sony’s ‘Road to Zero’ environmentally friendly plan.
Nevertheless, the timing is too interesting to ignore. After all, rumors about a PlayStation 6 handheld — a true PSP and PS Vita successor — have been circulating for a year at this point. Some even claimed that the company is taking notes from its Switch rival by adding a TV dock. If that’s the case, a feature designed to stretch battery life while keeping big-budget games running would be a perfect fit for a handheld console.
Once you’ve installed the update, activating Power Saver on a PS5 is pretty straightforward. Head to:
- The ‘Settings’ menu.
- Open the ‘System’ option.
- Select ‘Power Saving.’
- Select ‘Power Saver for Games.’
- Toggle ‘Use Power Saver.’
Afterward, you can choose which supported games to run in the low-power mode. Though, do keep in mind that VR support and some gameplay features may be limited by the limited power draw.
This new Power Saver option was quietly added to the July 23 patch note, which allows a DualSense to pair with up to four devices simultaneously. You can switch between them by pressing the PS button and face buttons, even when the controller is off. There’s a chance this was also added to make it easier for multiple players to hop between a PS5 and a PS6 on the fly.
Sony hasn’t officially acknowledged that the Power Saver update is being prepped for the PS6 — or even about any new hardware at all. Still, a handheld powerful enough to run Death Stranding 2 and major PlayStation games, even at a scaled-back setting, would be a huge flex. Would it be a clear answer to Nintendo’s runaway success? Or just another repeat of the PS Vita bomb? We’ll have to wait and see.
