Polygon: PS5 save files can only be backed up to PlayStation Plus

[Swotam]

FYI, not the end of the world but something to be aware of if you like having more than one place to save. Looks like copying to USB isn’t an option for PS5 titles which means if you don’t subscribe to PS+ you can’t backup your saves outside of a full system backup. Obviously this introduces potential headaches for trophy hunters.

 

This strikes me as more of a “get more people to pay for PS+“ decision that anything else. If Sony eliminates the unpaid options, then the paid option becomes the only choice and therefore more appealing?

 

https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/6/21551875/ps5-save-data-backup-cloud-usb-storage

 

Edit: removed the word ‘scum’ as apparently that infers cheating, or something. 

Edited November 16, 2020 by Swotam
More words, possibly world ending

[BeautifulTorment]

This is disgusting.

[Potent_Delusions]

How Sony still have fans is beyond me, truly. Their products are (usually) great. Them as a company are filth.

[sephiroth4424]

If it's true, they can go fuck themselves. Extortion with online gaming, now extortion with backing up saves?? What's next? We will insert coins to start games?

[GoldenShaka]

I guess this is related to sharing, hmm and trophies. ?

Idk, I'm not really giving it a lot of thought.

How sharing save files affect store sales, or ps5 ecosystem?

[Morfea]

Haha what I said was in the OP. This might consern me a little, never used an USB for saves though, only plus. Agree with poster bellow though, I remeber plus getting full in the start of PS4 generation. LBP profile took like half your ps plus storage.

Edited November 6, 2020 by Morfea

[diskdocx]

7 minutes ago, Swotam said:

FYI, not the end of the world but something to be aware of if you like having more than one place to save scum. Looks like copying to USB isn’t an option for PS5 titles.

 

https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/6/21551875/ps5-save-data-backup-cloud-usb-storage

Actually, yeah, it is a big deal. Plus backups are limited - both in terms of total storage size, but also number of saves. I have started deleting Plus saves as I am over the cap (which I think is 1000 saves).

 

I know that I am not the typical gamer, but that isn't the point - given that over time more people will have incremental increases to games played, save files get bigger, some games have multiple save files - this becomes an issue. It was previously an issue when PS Vita and PS4 dropped as the storage space became a problem.

 

This is bull shit. Yet another undefensible decision by Sony. I'm not sure what they are thinking, but my goodness, talk about piling awful decisions on top of awful decisions.

[Golem25]

Literally zero reason to do this. Wouldn't call it a hostage situation quite yet, but consumers deserve greater autonomy over their save files - they're arguably the most valuable data on the console from a player's perspective.

 

That being said, it's reminiscent of some PS3 games which had copy+protected saves (Motorstorm, Saints Row The Third, and a few others). When I needed to wipe my old console I was faced with losing a bunch of them or ponying up for PS Plus to rescue them

 

Spoiler

I let them go into the void because I will NOT yield

 

[visighost]

1 minute ago, diskdocx said:

Actually, yeah, it is a big deal. Plus backups are limited - both in terms of total storage size, but also number of saves. I have started deleting Plus saves as I am over the cap (which I think is 1000 saves).

 

You're correct - though it appears to be per platform, as I can still back up my Vita saves even if I've reached the PS4 cap (which is, indeed, tremendously annoying and makes the 100Gb meaningless)

[GoldenShaka]

12 minutes ago, Swotam said:

 

This strikes me as more of a “get more people to pay for PS+“ decision that anything else. If Sony eliminates the unpaid options, then the paid option becomes the only choice and therefore more appealing?

 

https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/6/21551875/ps5-save-data-backup-cloud-usb-storage

Yep, that must be, making more and more indispensable to subscribe to ps+

[Swotam]

1 minute ago, visighost said:

 

You're correct - though it appears to be per platform, as I can still back up my Vita saves even if I've reached the PS4 cap (which is, indeed, tremendously annoying and makes the 100Gb meaningless)

I wonder if this is a prelude to Sony offering additional storage space as a paid add-on to PS+?

[sepheroithisgod]

I doubt this affects many people. I actually don't know a single person that doesn't have PS+ that owns a PS4. Not saying choice isn't good, but this isn't a big deal.

[Dry]

Well shit, another feature/ability stripped away by Sony for absoluely no reason. How does Sony even create an excuse for this and the other moves they've made like this?

 

Now I'm guessing there won't be ANY USB/External Storage media player for the PS5 either along with this tom-fuckery?

Edited November 6, 2020 by PepsiMaxVanilla

[RNumbers]

Ah, Sony. A shit company with some great products. The only time they don't act like ducks is when there is a legitimate competitor and it looks they won't "win" the current generation.

 

This is why "console wars" are stupid and we should all be hoping for several competing products with roughly equal market share.

 

Edit: "Ducks" was autocorrect, I'm sure you can figure it out though.

Edited November 6, 2020 by RNumbers

[Conor]

I only back up online anyway but yeah this is shitty. Not enough to make me go "dErP sWiTcHiNg To EcKbOcK LoL". Only positive is that it could help prevent cheat saves being used to pop trophies.

[diskdocx]

5 minutes ago, visighost said:

 

You're correct - though it appears to be per platform, as I can still back up my Vita saves even if I've reached the PS4 cap (which is, indeed, tremendously annoying and makes the 100Gb meaningless)

I believe the 1000 saves is across all platforms though. I could be wrong, but I can no longer upload PS4 saves to the Cloud. I don't have anywhere near 1000 PS4 games played - although some games have more than 1 save. Still, I don't think I have 1000 PS4 saves.

1 minute ago, sepheroithisgod said:

I doubt this affects many people. I actually don't know a single person that doesn't have PS+ that owns a PS4. Not saying choice isn't good, but this isn't a big deal.

Yes, it is a big deal. The fact that you don't know anyone without Plus isn't the point. There are limitations with the Plus back up feature. Having a secondary back up option should not be a niche luxury that Sony can take away. Even if you choose not to use it, this is an anti-consumer practice and shouldn't be accepted with a shrug.

[MohandGamer7]

Here are 2 Images for the settings menu when trying to upload save date for PS5 & PS4

 

Also, uploading photos on this site is so tedious.

Edited November 6, 2020 by MohandGamer7

[PhantomFear94]

9 minutes ago, sepheroithisgod said:

I doubt this affects many people. I actually don't know a single person that doesn't have PS+ that owns a PS4. Not saying choice isn't good, but this isn't a big deal.

 

Not so sure. For example, I only subscribe to PS Plus if I need to for a specific game's platinum or something, maybe the occasional PS Plus free game, and then unsubscribe - my fiancee does the same, and it's her main system (unlike me, Xbox). If you're like us where you are 95% single player (speaking for myself, mainly play PS for Sony exclusives which are often SP) then PS Plus is pretty pointles. This is pretty shit because it effectively forces people who want to back up their save to PS plus instead of commonly accessible and universal storage alternatives...

Edited November 6, 2020 by PhantomFear94

[KimmysGotGame]

If they make it free to back up online then it's a small loss but I'll get over it. That's how microsoft does it and I didn't really expect sony to do something different. If it needs a paid plus subscription that's a little upsetting but I'd hope they change it to free quickly after they get backlash.

 

On a different note, this'll make the cheater removal team's job easier for longer. Hackers will need to work harder to decrypt the saves if they can't easily load them from a USB.

[Lance_87]

This is retarded. It's like they're going back to the PS3 days. There were several games with copy-protected saves, and it was possible to backup them only on Plus. Only pirates/hackers probably found a way to backup them wherever they want, but i'm not 100% sure about that.

[Swotam]

9 minutes ago, KimmysGotGame said:

If they make it free to back up online then it's a small loss but I'll get over it. That's how microsoft does it and I didn't really expect sony to do something different. If it needs a paid plus subscription that's a little upsetting but I'd hope they change it to free quickly after they get backlash.

Given that cloud saves on PS3 / PS4 required a PS+ paid subscription, it’s unlikely that it’ll be free on PS5. Screenshots in the article clearly show the Plus icon beside these options, suggesting that they’re only available to paid subscribers. Of course, they could always add the ability to save to USB via a software update if there’s a lot of community backlash...

Edited November 6, 2020 by Swotam
Typos

[djb5f]

Not sure I believe this yet.  We will see.

[Lance_87]

Wait someone told me that it was the same on PS4 during the first days.

[OnlyCass]

Anyone buying a PS5 and not signing up for PS Plus to get 20 of the greatest games available on playstation included in the subscription is mad in my eyes.

[Ghost]

This sucks if they don't fix it. If you're playing a game on PS Now that will expire soon, and your network is off so you have extra days to play, you won't be able to back up your save to the USB.

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by Ghost