Online Storage for Game Saves Coming to PlayStation Plus

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Hey everyone – We’ve got an exciting new feature coming exclusively to PlayStation Plus subscribers. Included in the system software update (v3.60) coming tomorrow to PS3, PlayStation Network’s new online storage for game saves feature gives PlayStation Plus subscribers the capability to back up game save data to the cloud. Online storage for game saves is a great way for PlayStation Plus subscribers to ensure that their data files are secure and also for users who wish to access their files from other PS3 systems.

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The new online storage feature allows gamers to store up to 150MB of game save data and a maximum of 1000 data files per PSN account. Users also have the ability to back-up “copy-prohibited save data,” and all previously saved data may be restored once per 24 hour period. When the new feature launches, most PS3 titles will be compatible with online storage for game saves, and moving forward, all new titles will have the capability to offer the storage option.

As I mentioned before, online storage for game saves functionality is included automatically for PlayStation Plus subscribers with system software update (v3.60), which will be available on March 10, 2011, and users can access their stored data on the XMB at any time. Additionally, users who save their files to the cloud can access their data on any PS3, using their PSN sign-in ID.

PlayStation Plus subscribers should turn on the auto-download feature to ensure that the update will begin downloading as soon as it’s available, so you can start backing up your game saves right away. If you aren’t already a PlayStation Plus subscriber, be sure to check out our bi-weekly post highlighting the free games, discounts and exciting exclusives we offer, in addition to the upcoming online storage for game saves feature.

Other minor features will also be added via system software update (v3.60). For more information please visit http://us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/ once the update is live.

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433 Comments

  • People complain they don’t add features, when they do, people complain………………

  • This feature is ok for backing up, but whats with the 24 hour limit?? I can use my usb stick to move my save from downstairs to upstairs as much as I want. (Knocks on wood that they don’t remove that feature too). Also, if your Plus account (not your PSN account) lapses for a little, your saves are “not guarented” so that kind of makes the long term backup feature null and void as well. I’ve never used the completition consoles.. might have to check them out.

  • Thank you, I am now using 79mb of my 150mb of storage space and I feel good knowing that god forbid something goes horribly wrong with one of my ps3’s that i can just download a backed up copy of my game saves.

    I lost a demon’s souls game save trying to data transfer from one ps3 to another and couldn’t figure out where the corruption was.. I deleted my demon’s souls game save and it wasn’t even the problem. It’s good to know that this wont happen to me again.

    It’s also good to not have to use a usb stick to switch game saves between my ps3’s, it wasnt that much of a hassle but the online storage is a much better option.

    Keep adding Playstation Plus features and keep online gaming free.

  • Let’s see… All my Dragon Age: Origin characters from multiple playthroughs, add the dlc too; Then there is all the playthroughs for Heavy Rain; All the playthroughs for Mass Effect 2; Fallout 3; Oh, and let’s not forget all the Rock Band games and their spin off track packs; and so on and so on…
    Yeah, 150MB simply doesn’t cut it.
    Regarding the above, only Fallout 3 allows me to save my game files on a usb stick. The rest (with their 5MB – 12 MB game save files EACH) have filled my cloud storage up faster than you can read this sentence.
    And none of this takes into account the dozen more games I have save files for that cannot be backed up with a usb stick and only via cloud; nor does it address the hundreds of additional game save files that can be backed up via connected storage device that I might want to save to my cloud storage instead.
    Good try, guys. But that’s all it is,a try. And it doesn’t do nearly enough for your most loyal supporters.

  • Really cool idea and as a PS-Plus Subscriber I know it will be useful. However, the setup sucks. It would have really helped if you could check mark the save data you want uploaded so that you can upload multiple save files at a time. Or at least an option to “Upload All”. I mean… what happens if you lose track of where you left off? You have to start over again and re-upload everything? Hopefully on the next update, Sony will include this option.

  • Just finished transferring saves for Dead Nation, Lara Croft: GoL, Wolfenstein, SW: Force Unleashed, Sly Cooper collection, and all the other games I could find on my weekday system (my second PS3) that did not let me copy data. Will do the same on my first system when I return home. I’m nowhere near the 150MB limit, by the way, but I don’t seem to have many games with large save data files.

    The 24 hour restriction is a drag for those of us who work out of town, though. If I am playing Friday afternoon/evening on system 2, I have to wait until Saturday afternoon/evening to download that same data on system 1? Why? For those games that don’t lock the save data, a memory stick back-up is probably still the better way to go. :(

    Also, as happy as I am that I no longer have to remember which system I started a game on, all this could have been avoided if publishers were required to make their data copyable.

    I’ve heard that “trophy integrity” is the reason why some publishers prevent save data copying, but that’s a bunch of bull–look at LBP, for example, which notices when you are using data copied from another user and disables trophies. All games could do this. There is no good reason for locking save data!!!

  • Well the feature is nice but 150 MB isn’t going to cut it Sony. There’s one game I own that will never be uploaded to this feature, Afrika, with a whopping 350 MB save file for who knows why it’s that big.

  • Of course, another way for Sony to get us to fork over 50$.

    This might actually get my to sign up for PSN+ as this will be pretty usefull.

    150 MB of save game data with up to 1000 data files per PSN account is not enough.
    I may not use the 1000 data files but the 150 MB is not alot. With games releasing and them having 1MB+ save files you can only store so much.
    500 Mb would be nice, or unlimited would be better.

  • AWWWW no way!! I KNEW this would happen the week after I got the ylod and I lost everything. If only my poor launch model could have cling to life for another week :(

    aw well at least from this point on I don’t have to be worried about losing saves again that way. Awesome work guys :)

  • Guys… i really need some help here. I just installed the 3.60 update, but then both of my 2 Dual Shocks stopped to work.

    I have to plug-in them to the USB so they can work. But when i’m using the wireless function… they just power off.

    What should i do and thanks!

  • I can only hope for the non PS+ members that this will be available for them as well down the line, otherwise that’s a real crappy way of discriminating against the have’s and the have-not’s, Sony. I understand that the PS+ members pay for use of the server space necessary for the Cloud with their membership, but I would hope that non PS+ members can also make use of the Cloud by paying a satisfactory fee.

    I personally can’t buy into Playstation Plus, even with the Cloud saving feature. The primary advantage I can see over manual backups (to a portable HDD or memory stick) with Cloud is that it allows you to back-up protected save files (i.e. Rock Band, Killzone, etc.) where you can’t with the manual method. And this is where the direction that this could go worries me. I can understand that some files are copy-protected for whatever reasons is deemed as “need-to” by Sony and/or the company publishing the game, but what happens if we see a surge of saves being copy-protected just so you “have” to buy into PS+ or the Cloud-save feature? Just food for thought.

  • @alexfranco60: Try resetting the Dualshock 3’s by sticking a pin into the reset button on the bottom of each controller and then re-synching them with your PS3.

  • Is this feature going to be opened up for sub accounts on a PS+ subscribing main account? I’d understand if the 150 mb had to then be shared across all accounts, but you don’t honestly expect a single household to buy multiple PS+ accounts just for access to this service, do you?

  • The scheduled maintenance prevented me from logging in and commenting on this yesterday . . .

    Just wanted to say I finally let curiosity get the better of me and decided to hop on the PlayStation Plus bandwagon this past weekend.

    So far, color me impressed. I was expecting to play through the “free” games while I had access and then maybe think about renewing next year. But to have this feature added already makes me want to invest in a PS+ lifetime subscription.

  • This news actually makes me tip towards getting a Plus account especially since I have 2 PS3’s and transferring saves from one to the other is a pain in the 4$$

  • This a stupid idea. Hey sony I got an Idea why don’t you go to blog share and pick something (I don’t care what) and make it happen. Oh thats right your to busy with other stuff.

  • whats this i hear about the cloud storage only keeping the saves for 6 months?

  • also, a fix is needed for the friends list as it now sorts the friends with capitals first, then lower case after, has it all messed up, with my 20 or so friends with lower case that come after my long list of Capital Letter friends.

  • This has to be one thing I really “dislike” about Sony now. The majority of users have to update for a feature they can’t use unless they fork out for 3 months or a year, and keep paying that to keep using the feature. Its stupid. And 150mb? I’d have to agree with a lot of people on here that say 150mb might not be enough. Thankfully I can still back up on my flash drives or external HDD. So is this the start before we get even more updates we can’t use unless we pay for them? I’m willing to bet I can buy new NES cords, games, and controllers (maybe event he system too), online for cheaper than PS+ and have fun playing games.

  • Oh and another thought, isn’t free games, free themes, early access to games, and beta invites enough? No?

  • @Psx0005: Thanks a lot buddy. Problem solved! :)

  • So awesome! Sony 4 life!

  • The new 3.60 firmware caused the activate and deactivate no longer visiable anymore which means can’t tell if PS3 system is activated or not on games and video on system activation under account manangement. Last night I was just messing around as repeatly re-activating and de-activating ps3 system and then all of suddenly out of the blue as the error message 80029780 pops up when attempting to re-activate ps3 before can play certain game contents or redownload games requires activation. I do not know why does it takes like 4 or 5 days to wait to be able to reactivate again without attempting to reactivate or redownload for 4 or 5 days.

  • Man, I am now bummed that I sold my original PS3 after buying my new slim. Got annoyed with trying to transfer save files since not all of them were transferable. Grrr guess I’ll be buying a new PS3 slim.

  • I would be ecstatic for this if I knew that the cloud wasn’t rendered useless after my subscription expired…

    I don’t want to feel like Plus isn’t worth it for me after 12 months but be forced to pay another $50 just to keep my save files…

    I get that they would take away the free content they offered but this is lame.

  • In HOW MANY Consoles can I do this?? just 5??
    It’ll SUCKs!

  • thanks you very much for this add!

  • @325

    You expect them to allow you to you the cloud for free if you don’t have plus anymore?

    You have six months to resubscribe to plus and regain all your game saves. What else do you want ?

  • I am a playstation Plus Member also Game Advisory panel.

    1st problem with this back up.
    You have to select each individual file one at a time! Why could you not make it so you could do a folder and or put a check mark next to each file.

    2nd Problem
    Why does this feature not have an automatic upload/update setting
    just like the download feature for games and demos for playstation plus members that works automated.

    3rd problem
    Why is it only PS3 Data Game Data? I thought the Minis where PS3’s too LOL and the PS2’created memory card for the PS2 games I buy from PSN cannot be backed up either!? What in the world Sony!

    4th Problem
    SPACE! 150mb is not going to cut it! I have 79 game saves! That is just not good Sony!

    I am sure it can just take some programing to fix these issues. I am happy you guys a trying but come on the engineer or programmer who added this feature to the Sony OS did not take anything into consideration.

  • @320 – no. You don’t keep any of it when you unsubscribe. I’m not willing to pay any amount of money for pointless features and ‘sales’ that don’t let me keep the content. I’m hesitant enough to buy DLC as I prefer physical copies of all my games when possible.

    Plus is totally not worthwhile.

  • @330
    The “sales” are permanent, you don’t have to pay back the difference. If you buy a lot of games on PSN, PS+ is totally worth it.

    And if you think online game storage is pointless, I feel sorry for you.

  • It’s not about paying back, the content vanishes. I buy games to keep. That’s why I collect physical copies over DLC when at all possible. All I’d save is a dollar or two on a game, but with Plus the game disappears when I unsubscribe, basically paying $50 to rent games. It’s better to wait for a seasonal sale and then get the game to keep. Furthermore all the ‘free’ things are games I bought a while ago, so what’s the point…

    Hey I was content with memory cards rather than risk HDD failures. Now they think this is any better? What if your internet is down or the network for maintenance? Uh oh, there goes your precious content. Sony needs to focus on delivering good games, not this fluff junk. That’s why the PSP can’t ever keep up with Nin’s portables. It’s awful that every time these updates come out I have to sit for an hour to get junk I will never use. Just want the games please, kinda like when Sony was successful with the PS1/PS2.

  • This feature is great for the copy protected saves. But for me to get plus i really need another big feature to get me to subscribe. It would have to be funds added to my wallet each month for the free psn game. The cloud saves and the automatic downloads are great for the software updates and game patches. But we need to change the idea of your getting this game and thats that. Until than i have to hold off. I will cross my fingers that this will happen by June.

  • Finally. I wish you guys implemented this a couple of months ago so I wouldn’t have lost my little big planet game saves from when my 60GB died.

    So 150MB. That seems pretty fair, though I kind of wish it were more since some game saves can be a few megabytes in size. I’ll see what results I get when i do my back ups now.

    Now, just get us cross game chat :P

  • Wow. Stop whining, all of you. 150mb is a ton of space. Stop crying because you can’t copy 30 Fallout 3 saves to it (and anyway, why would you even need to). Back up your normal saves to a USB and back up those stupid copy-protected saves to the cloud. That’s what it’s really for, imo. Go buy an 8G USB, they’re like $20something anywhere online, it will probably hold every save on your machine.

    Also, Sony, this is nice and all for PS+ subscribers but what you really need to do is make an update that makes all saves able to be copied. I’m getting to the point after 2 hardware failures, I don’t even want to play a game where I can back up my saves. Once you’ve lost a save that you’ve put a lot of time and effort into, you don’t even want to restart because you know you could lose it all in an eye blink. Please make all saves copyable.

  • What is the reasoning behind the download limits? It seems like a wholly unnecessary inconvenience, especially with the copy-protected saves–I like the fact that I can save and quit my game, then immediately upload my save, but if it’s copy-protected, I have to wait 24 hours before I can download it onto my other PS3 and resume playing. Why?

  • This is a great feature, especially since I have 3 PS3’s, if it weren’t for the fact that you can only download each file once every 24 hours. My question is why is there this restriction? And why is the warning displayed everytime we upload a file?

    Until the restriction is lifted, I’ll stick with a thumb drive.

  • Complain Complain Complain. You Guys expect Sony To Do Research & Development Fund Distribute & Maintain some Of These Features For Free ? Be Serious, I’m Gonna Get A Real Chuckle Out Of This Blog When Cross Game Voice Chat Is Announced For Playstation Plus.

  • Nice feature! I got one question though. Can we also save our PS1 and PS2 games with the online storage? Or is it only for PS3 games?

  • Gmail debuted at 1GB and offers ever-expanding storage (around 7GB at last check) for free. I can get a 320GB notebook drive for $40-50.

    Or…OR…I could get 150MB (or less, if I have a lot of little game saves) of online storage for only $50 every year with PlayStation Plus.

    You drive a hard bargain.

  • And — OOOOOH!!! — PlayStation PLUS subscribers can now back up their copy-protected game data in case their PS3 hardware fails. Speaking as the owner of one refurb and one brick: way to turn what should have been launch date functionality into a “premium service”…five years and one remodel late.

  • Wow, this is actually something useful added to PS+, and indeed it is a great one! It’s about time! Now I can finally transfer my precious Killzone 2 save data to my other 5 PS3s that I own!

    The fact that it will take 5 days to do it sucks though. Please somehow fix the 24hr waiting time for copy protected save data files. 5 days to copy Killzone 2 data to my 5 PS3s is a bit excessive, and uncalled for really.

    Otherwise, very good move Sony. I was thinking about letting PS+ die after the 15 months are up, but with this I wouldn’t mind buying another year or two subscription.

    I still want to see better organization of the “items downloaded” section of the PS Store. I cant stand sifting through 540+ demos, games, addons, and other nonsense to find one or two games to put on my other PS3s. The “View Downloads” area needs refinement BADLY! Please look into this. The list is getting WAY TOO LONG to sift through!

  • @335
    No! I want all 30 of my Fallout saves!!! :D On a serious note though, I do have a ton of games, physical and downloaded. To go through all of those game saves and pick and choose which ones I want to back up to the PSN, I will not be able to get them all with the 150MB.
    Also others make a good point that sub accounts can not be allowed to use this save feature? I don’t like that. Children should be able to save their stuff as well. What ever happened to giving the user more choice for free Sony?

  • Oh my dear. What a feature. Sony just please fix the unusable browser. Did you ever see Nintento Wii? That’s the browser experience!

    PS3 is cool for games but only for games. Nothing else. That’s not enough.

  • You’re insane. Gaming is all we want. If you want more go buy a friggin PC. Sony did best with the PS1 and PS2 because they could focus on gaming. PSP came, tried to do too much, and bombed. PS3 cost too much for most and also had trouble. I say they should remove a lot of the useless features like movie playback, Home, music and picture storage, and everything else we already use our PC’s for. The browser too is weak, but again we have PC for that.

  • does anyone know if you will be able to view REAL 3D Movies on the PS3?

  • Awesome!

  • AWESOMENESS!!! Just pure AWESOMENESS!

  • So when I copy a savedata to the cloud and I continue to play my game and the savedata is updated, is it automatically synced to the cloud or do I have to recopy it?

  • Dear Susan..A Few months ago I asked a question here in a blog about bringing in Some things in Home like they have in Eu.You answered and said you would def look into ideas for PS Home for NA and would take suggestions. Well Susan,heres what we got..
    A Zombie Head.

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