Programmers made PSP games work on the PlayStation Portal, then “responsibly reported” the exploit so it could be fixed.

The latest PlayStation Portal update reportedly fixed an exploit that allowed PlayStation Portable (PSP) games to be emulated natively on the streaming handheld.

It is according to a recent X/Twitter post by Andy Nguyen who was the first spotted by VGC. An employee at Google, Nguyen previously claimed that they were part of a small team capable of running offline PSP games on the PlayStation 5 peripheral via a hack and the open source emulator PPSSPP.

Now, however, Nguyen claims that the exploit they used to install and run the software has been fixed after they “responsibly reported the issues to PlayStation.” This alleged change is part of the latest PS Portal software update, version 2.0.6.

While the official patch notes for version 2.0.6 are extremely vague, simply stating that Sony has “improved the performance and stability of the system software”, it seems plausible that the company would act quickly to remedy such software flaws if it were alerted to their existence.

If you’re not familiar with the device, the PS Portal is a gaming handheld dedicated entirely to game streaming. It has a very limited operating system, which cannot run games natively and is basically only capable of connecting to a PS5 console remotely out of the box.

While some were disappointed by these constraints, our PlayStation Portal review praised the device’s excellent ergonomic design which effectively sandwiches an 8-inch LCD screen between two sides of a DualSense wireless controller. We also highlighted its excellent performance when combined with a high-speed internet connection, which allows you to seamlessly download and play many of the best PS5 games when you’re away from your console.

Considering how well PS Portal performed in this specific function, we’re not too disappointed that it appears unofficial emulation won’t be on the cards anytime soon. After all, there are plenty of best handheld game consoles to choose from if you want to play games offline and you can still pick up an original PSP relatively cheaply these days on the second-hand market.

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