Black Friday Game Deals: What’s Usually Worth Waiting For
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Black Friday 2026 is Friday, November 27, and Cyber Monday is November 30. This guide covers what has historically gone on sale for gamers around those dates, which stores run their own events, what almost never drops, and how to get ready now.
The short version: Black Friday is worth waiting for if you want a console, a controller, a year of PS Plus or a first-party game that’s a year or more old. It’s usually not worth waiting for if you want a game that came out this fall, or a price cut on a console that just launched.
Show all 5 past deals at a glance
| Game | Store (2025) | Black Friday 2025 price | Regular | % off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 | PlayStation Store | $29.39 | $69.99 | 58% |
| Hogwarts Legacy | Xbox Store | Varied by edition | Varies | 85% |
| The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom | Retailers (physical) | $39.99 | $59.99 | 33% |
| Super Mario Odyssey | Retailers (physical) | $29.99 | $59.99 | 50% |
| Skyrim Anniversary Edition | Fanatical (Steam key) | $14.49 | $50 | 71% |
The Scroll in Brief
- Dates: Black Friday is November 27, 2026. In 2025, Xbox and Nintendo started their sales November 20, PlayStation on November 21, and big retailers even earlier.
- Usually worth waiting for: PS5 console deals ($100 off in 2025), controllers, PS Plus (up to 33% off a year), and first-party games that are a year or more old.
- Rarely drops much: games released that fall (often 20% off or less) and brand-new hardware. Nintendo announced no Switch 2 price cut for Black Friday 2025.
- Get ready now: fill your wishlists, turn on price alerts, and look up each game’s lowest price so you can spot fake deals.
When Black Friday Game Sales Start
Black Friday is always the day after US Thanksgiving, so in 2026 it’s November 27. But game stores don’t wait for the day itself. In 2025, most platform sales started a full week early and ran into early December.
| Store | What it ran in 2025 | 2026 status |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation | Black Friday deals from Nov 21 | Not announced |
| Xbox | Black Friday sale, Nov 20 – Dec 3 | Not announced |
| Nintendo | Cyber Deals on eShop, Nov 20 – Dec 3 | Not announced |
| Steam | Late-November offers, Nov 24 – Dec 1 | Not on Valve’s calendar yet |
| Fanatical | Black Friday sale, live by Nov 21 | Not announced |
| Walmart | Online deals from Nov 13 (Walmart+) and Nov 14 (everyone) | Not announced |
| Best Buy | Holiday deals from Halloween, weekly doorbusters on Fridays | Not announced |
| Target | Early Black Friday sale in early November | Not announced |
Steam is the wild card. It used to hold its Autumn Sale over Black Friday, but moved that sale to early October in 2025. Valve’s 2026 events calendar lists an Auto-Battler RPG Fest on November 16–23 and nothing else in late November yet. For Steam’s full year, see our Steam Autumn Sale 2026 guide.
What Usually Goes on Sale
PS5 consoles and bundles
Sony’s console deals are the most dependable Black Friday hardware discount. In 2025, the PS5 Digital Edition went to $399.99 (from $499.99), the standard PS5 to $449.99 (from $549.99) and the PS5 Pro to $649.99 (from $749.99), mostly as bundles with a game included.
Gary’s call: If you’ve been waiting on a PS5, this is the window. Don’t buy one at full price in October.
Nintendo Switch 2
Nintendo’s own Black Friday 2025 announcement didn’t cut the Switch 2 price. It listed the console at $449.99 and the Mario Kart World bundle at $499.99. The value came from bundles that include a game, not from a lower console price.
Gary’s call: Don’t hold off on a Switch 2 hoping for a big November markdown. Buy a bundle when you need one, and put your deal energy into games and accessories.
Controllers and accessories
Accessories are where Black Friday quietly shines. PlayStation’s 2025 list included $20 off the DualSense (which dropped to about $55 at the time), $30 off the DualSense Edge, $100 off PS VR2 and $20 off PlayStation Portal. Nintendo took $10 off select amiibo and $20 off Samsung microSD Express cards for Switch 2. Xbox offered free engraving on Design Lab controllers from November 27 to December 12.
Subscriptions
PS Plus is the big one. Sony took up to 33% off 12-month memberships for Black Friday 2025, and did it again for Days of Play 2026. Xbox went the other way in 2025: new members could try Game Pass for $1 for 14 days. Warehouse clubs also got in on it, with Costco selling three months of Game Pass Ultimate for $38.99.
Gift cards
Gaming gift cards often go 10% off or come with a bonus card around Black Friday. In 2025, for example, Costco sold a $100 Nintendo eShop card for $89.99. Buying discounted store credit, then spending it during a sale, is how you stack two discounts on one game.
Games That Dropped: 5 Examples From 2025
These are real Black Friday 2025 prices, shown as history, not predictions. They show the pattern: first-party and big third-party games that are a year or more old get the deepest cuts.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
$29.39 on the PlayStation Store during Black Friday 2025, 58% off its $69.99 list price. Insomniac’s 2023 sequel was one of Sony’s biggest first-party games on sale that week.
Gary’s call: Around $30 is the number to beat. If it’s higher than that in November, wait for the holiday sale.
Hogwarts Legacy
85% off in Xbox’s Black Friday 2025 sale, which ran November 20 to December 3. That was one of the deepest cuts Xbox Wire highlighted that year.
Gary’s call: At 85% off, it’s an easy yes for anyone who wants a big open-world game for less than a movie ticket. Anything under 70% off, skip it and wait.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
$39.99 for the physical Switch game at participating retailers during Black Friday 2025, down from $59.99. Nintendo put it in a $39.99 group with Luigi’s Mansion 3, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, Princess Peach: Showtime! and Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe.
Gary’s call: For a Nintendo-made Zelda game, $20 off is a good deal by Nintendo standards. Grab it if it’s on your list.
Super Mario Odyssey
$29.99 for the physical Switch game at participating retailers during Black Friday 2025, half its $59.99 list price. Splatoon 3, Nintendo Switch Sports and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door were in the same $29.99 group.
Gary’s call: Half off a flagship Mario game is about as good as Nintendo gets. If you don’t own it, this is the one to grab.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition
$14.49 as a Steam key at Fanatical during Black Friday 2025, down from $50. Fanatical’s Black Friday sale had more than 9,500 deals that year.
Gary’s call: Under $15 for the full Anniversary Edition is a strong price. Check that the key is for Steam before you pay.
What Rarely Drops on Black Friday
- Games that came out that fall. In Xbox’s 2025 sale, October releases Ninja Gaiden 4 and The Outer Worlds 2 were only 20% off. Fanatical had Borderlands 4 at $49, down from $70. Useful, but not the 50–85% cuts older games get.
- Brand-new hardware. Nintendo’s 2025 announcement kept the Switch 2 at $449.99. New consoles usually get bundles, not price cuts, in their first holiday.
- Nintendo digital first-party games. Nintendo’s headline 2025 prices were on physical copies at retailers. Its announcement didn’t list first-party eShop discounts, so check the eShop price before you assume it matches.
- Games that are always cheap anyway. A game that hits 75% off every seasonal sale isn’t a Black Friday special. Check its history before you treat it like one.
How to Prepare Before November
- Build your wishlists now. Steam, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo all let you wishlist games. When sales go live, your list becomes a personal deals page.
- Turn on price alerts. Steam emails you when wishlisted games go on sale. IsThereAnyDeal and GG.deals can alert you across PC stores.
- Write down each game’s lowest price. Use SteamDB for Steam, PlatPrices for PlayStation and NTPrices for Nintendo. If the Black Friday price isn’t at or near that low, it’s not special.
- Don’t renew subscriptions in October. If your PS Plus runs out soon, see if you can wait for the Black Friday discount.
- Watch the week before. In 2025, the big platform sales opened around November 20, a full week before Black Friday itself.
Gary’s Take
Black Friday is the best week of the year for three things: a PS5, a year of PS Plus and older first-party games, the kind that almost never go deep any other time. If one of those is on your list, wait. You’ll probably save $30 to $100.
For everything else, Black Friday is just a good sale, not a magic one. Games from this fall barely move, and the Winter Sale on Steam starts December 17 anyway. My greedy rule: buy only what hits your written-down target price, and let the rest ride to December.
Checked September 27, 2026. 2025 prices are past prices from the sources below, not predictions for 2026. Stores haven’t announced their 2026 Black Friday deals yet.
Keep digging: When the big game sales happen, How to Tell if a Game Deal Is Actually Good, Where to Buy Cheap Game Keys, the Steam Autumn Sale guide and more game deals and sale guides.
Sources
- Time and Date: Black Friday 2026
- PlayStation.Blog: PlayStation’s Black Friday deals 2025
- 9to5Toys: Sony’s official 2025 Black Friday deals
- Twisted Voxel: PlayStation Store Black Friday 2025 sale
- PlayStation.Blog: Days of Play 2026
- Xbox Wire: Black Friday with Xbox 2025
- Nintendo (Business Wire): Holiday offers for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025
- 9to5Toys: Nintendo 2025 Black Friday deals
- Nintendo Wire: Best Black Friday Switch and Switch 2 deals of 2025
- GG.deals: Steam Black Friday 2025
- Steamworks: Upcoming Steam events
- GameSpot: Fanatical Black Friday 2025 sale
- GG.deals: Fanatical Black Friday 2025
- Axios: When early Black Friday 2025 sales began
- DealNews: Black Friday gift card deals 2025
