PlayStation 3 Cloud Saving Coming March 10

We’ve all experienced what it is like to lose a game save and not have a recent backup (or even a backup at all). Or worse, be told that some of our saves are copy-protected and we can’t back them up at all. We all have a few games in our library we’ve put dozens, even hundreds of hours into and fear for the day when our console breaks down and all of that progress is gone.

Sony has finally listened to our suggestions and on March 10, software update 3.60 will be released, the primary feature of which is to allow cloud saving for PSN+ subscribers. This allows users to save up to 150mb total or up to 1000 game save files. Backing-up “copy-prohibited save data” was one of the key things that caught my eye when Sony mentioned this feature today on their blog. There is also a restore function on save data, within a 24 hour period. Most PlayStation 3 titles will be compatible with cloud saving; a list of games which were not compatible was not made available, and of course all future games going forward will support cloud saving. Additionally, users can sign into their PSN accounts from any PlayStation 3 and download their save files onto that system and start playing their saved games.

Instructions on how to backup and copy save files from cloud saving:

To back-up:
1. Select [Game] > [Save Data Utility].
2. Focus on the save data you wish to back up.
3. Open up the option menu using “triangle” and select [Copy].
4. Select [Online Storage] as the destination of back up.

To copy:
1. Select [Game] > [Save Data Utility] > [Online Storage].
2. Focus on the save data you wish to copy.
3. Open up an option menu using “triangle” and select [Copy].