John Chan/CNET

Sony is set to unveil something radically slim at the end of the month, according to an invitation received by IGN Friday.

Though a PlayStation 4 overhaul would certainly shake up the industry, it wouldn't exactly be a practical move for Sony, leading many to conclude that the announcement is likely regarding a wider release of the company's PlayStation Vita PCH-2000, the ultraslim model it rolled out to Japan and Asia last fall.

"Following the biggest launch in PlayStation history, join us for an introduction to the slimmest," the invite reads, setting the date at January 30. The PS Vita Slim is in fact the most compact handheld in Sony's lineup, measuring 20 percent thinner than the current Vita available for US and Europe, and weighing 15 percent less.

Sony

The device also contains a 5-inch LED screen, dropping the OLED display from the previous iteration, and comes with 1GB of internal storage that will now let people play games without their needing to buy a separate memory card.

Beyond those tweaks and the additional array of six colors available for Japan and Asia units at the moment, the PS Vita Slim doesn't bring too dramatic a change to the handheld. It's currently retailing for 18,980 yen, or $190, in Japan.

We've reached out to Sony for comment and will update this post when we hear back.