Remote Downloads for PS3 and PS Vita Are Now Active in the PlayStation Online Store, Here’s How to do it (Update)

The feature that we expected to see in May has now officially gone live and you can now take advantage of remote downloads from the PlayStation Online Store.

What this means is that any purchases you make from the Online Store (Canada, United States, UK) can be added to a download queue. Then, the next time you turn on your PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita, that content will begin to automatically download from the PlayStation Store.

Unfortunately, this does mean that your PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita won’t turn themselves on automatically, so the games won’t download while you’re at work, but if your system is on standby and you have a PlayStation Plus membership, the downloads will begin automatically.

To see a step-by-step process on how to download your content remotely, follow this FAQ:

1. On the ‘Thank You’ page or your Download List in the Web Store, select ‘Download to your PS Vita’ or ‘Download to your PS3’ next to the title you want to download.
2. Provided your device is in stand-by mode and you are a member of PlayStation Plus, your PS Vita or PS3 will switch itself on and begin downloading. If you are not a member of PlayStation Plus the content will begin downloading automatically when you next switch on your PS Vita or PS3.
3. Once it has downloaded the game will be available on the home screen on your PS Vita, or the Games area of the XMB on your PS3

Update: While the above information comes from a FAQ on the PlayStation website, the PlayStation Support website offers up a contradictory statement regarding the PS3 and PS Vita downloads via PlayStation Plus, which is the more factual one from what we can tell:

PlayStation Vita

1. At the ‘Thank You’ page or on your Download List select ‘Download to your PS Vita’ next to the title you want to download.
2. Content will remotely download onto your Vita if one of the follow occurs:
   • Access the PSN Store from your PS Vita
   • Next time your switch on your PS Vita
3. Once it’s downloaded the game will be available on the home screen.

PlayStation 3

1. At the ‘Thank You’ page or on your Download List select ‘Download to your PS3’ next to the title you want to download.
2. Provided your device is in stand-by mode and you are a member of PlayStation Plus, your PS3 will begin downloading at the specified time in the PS3 automatic update setting. If you are not a member of PlayStation Plus the content will begin downloading automatically when you next switch on your PS3.
3. Once it’s downloaded go to (Games) to access your new game.

Do you think you’ll use remote downloads (or remote purchases for non-PS+ users)? Let us know in the comments below.

[Via, Source 1, 2]