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This was a feature that Sony hadn’t really promoted. However, some players have found a way to get around the limitations of PS Portal to enable a form of local co-op, with a single PS Plus Premium account and a single game. The trick, highlighted by a Reddit user named Tsasuki, relies on streaming from the PS5 via the cloud.
A controller, a portal, a brilliant trick
Concretely, here’s how it works: a player downloads an online cooperative game on their PS5. His partner can then connect locally via another PSN account on this same console. Then the user with the Premium subscription streams the game from the cloud to the Portal. Result: both players play simultaneously, side by side, with a single copy of the game. According to Zarmena Khan, specialist journalist: “Frankly, I hadn’t thought about it before seeing this Reddit post, and I’m definitely going to try it myself.”
An economical and legal solution
The trick has something to seduce. No more buying two versions of the same game or two PS Plus Premium subscriptions. Just one is enough. And since everything happens within the official Sony ecosystem, no illegal hacks are necessary. The Portal thus becomes much more useful than initially thought, transforming online-only games into local co-op experiences.
But watch out for latency…
Obviously, this solution has some limitations. The player on Portal will have to make do with a cloud connection. If the bandwidth is not optimal, lags or slowdowns may appear. However, this remains very light according to the first feedback, and largely playable for slow-paced narrative or cooperative games. For nervous FPS fans, the experience might be more mixed.