The best video game deals of Black Friday 2020

  News
image_pdfimage_print
There are lots of deals on Nintendo Switch games this Black Friday.
Enlarge / There are lots of deals on Nintendo Switch games this Black Friday.
Photo Illustration by Guillaume Payen/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Black Friday is here, and it’s brought a deluge of discounts on video games and gaming gear. We’ve already posted a more general roundup of the best Black Friday deals, but with more and more people using video games to keep themselves occupied during the ongoing pandemic, we thought it’d be helpful to specifically highlight the best video game deals we’re seeing across retailers. Before you dig into our roundup, we’ll state what’s probably obvious at this point: no, there aren’t any Black Friday deals on the PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. Demand for those new consoles remains incredibly high, with most retailer restocks selling out within minutes (at most), so don’t expect to see any discounts there for a long, long time.

That said, many of the year’s biggest games have dropped to the lowest prices we’ve seen to date, Steam and Epic are running sales for PC gamers, and a number of worthwhile accessories are deeply discounted. You can further stuff your backlog by checking out our rundown below.

Note: Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs.

Table of Contents

Best Nintendo Switch deals of Black Friday 2020

<em>Super Mario 64</em> in <em>Super Mario 3D All-Stars</em>.
Enlarge / Super Mario 64 in Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

While the Nintendo Switch doesn’t have the shiny new sheen of the PS5 and new Xbox consoles, it’s still highly in demand. Nintendo’s primary Switch console deal for the holiday season isn’t a major discount, merely packaging the device with a digital copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a three-month membership to the company’s Switch Online service for the console’s usual $300 MSRP. Still, as of this writing, it’s sold out across retailers. We’ll leave links below in case the bundle comes back in stock, but if you were banking on buying a Switch before Christmas, you may be forced to grab a non-bundled model.

As for games, Super Mario 3D All-Stars is $10 off at Amazon and Walmart, which brings it below $50 at major retailers for the first time. The collection still feels like something of a missed opportunity, but for those who haven’t experienced the trio of classics included within All-Stars, this might be the biggest price drop we see until the “limited production” becomes unavailable next year.

Elsewhere, notables like Super Mario Party and Luigi’s Mansion are down to $40—which aren’t all-time lows, but are still solid discounts—other first-party exclusives like Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Mario Tennis Aces are available for $35, and the buzzy roguelike Hades is 20% off in the Nintendo eShop.

Best PlayStation and Xbox deals of Black Friday 2020

<em>Assassin's Creed: Valhalla</em>.
Enlarge / Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.

On the PlayStation and Xbox side of things, there are a few good deals on subscription services: PlayStation players can tack another year onto their PS Plus subscription for $45, which is $15 off the norm, while Xbox owners can grab another three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate—which is already a strong value at its normal going rate—for $20 at Target. The latter deal is the best price we’ve seen, but if it runs dry for any reason, note that other retailers are selling three-month codes for a still-solid $23.

While the Xbox Series X|S is still difficult to come by, Microsoft has already provided the first big discount on the wireless controller that comes packaged with the consoles. If you need a spare pad for your new Xbox, Xbox One, PC, or Android phone, it’s down to $40 in various colors.

Besides that, there are tons of discounts on some of the year’s most popular games. Major PlayStation exclusives Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us Part II are down to new low prices, as are recently-released notables like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Star Wars: Squadrons, and Watch Dogs: Legion (subtitles!). Several recent EA Sports games are deeply discounted as well, while a number of classic PS4 games are available for $10.

If you decide to take the plunge on one of the many discounts below, be sure to check if the game is available as part of an existing Xbox Game Pass subscription or, for PS5 users, Sony’s PlayStation Plus Collection bundle. Also, note that each game below should work on a PS5 or Xbox Series X|S through backwards compatibility, while a handful of the newer ones include free upgrades to editions specifically built for the new hardware.

<em>The Last of Us Part 2</em>.
Enlarge / The Last of Us Part 2.

Notable PC game deals of Black Friday 2020

<em>Death Stranding</em>.
Enlarge / Death Stranding.

If you primarily game on the PC, both Steam and the Epic Games Store have launched Black Friday sales on their respective storefronts. In general, these discounts aren’t as steep as their console counterparts above, but we’ll highlight a handful of the more notable offers anyway.

Best gaming accessories deals of Black Friday 2020

The Razer Viper is a recommended gaming mouse.
Enlarge / The Razer Viper is a recommended gaming mouse.

Finally, a handful of well-regarded gaming mice, keyboards, and other accessories are also on sale. The Razer Viper Ultimate, for instance, is our top pick among wireless gaming mice, and is down to a new low of $80. The SanDisk microSDXC Card for Nintendo Switch and Tomtoc Slim Case, meanwhile, were both recommended in a past guide to Nintendo Switch accessories.

  • SanDisk microSDXC Card for Nintendo Switch (128GB)—UHS-I, U3, V30 for $19.99 at Amazon and Best Buy (normally $27).
  • Samsung EVO Select (128GB) microSDXC card—UHS-I, U3 for $15.99 at Amazon and Samsung (normally $20).
  • Tomtoc Slim Case carrying case for Nintendo Switch for $14.44 at Amazon (normally $20).
  • Fnatic React wired gaming headset for $52.99 at Amazon (normally $75).
  • Corsair HS60 Pro wired gaming headset for $39.99 at Best Buy (normally $60).
  • Razer Viper wired gaming mouse for $39.99 at Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy (normally $70).
  • Razer Basilisk X HyperSpeed wireless gaming mouse for $39.99 at Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy (normally $53).
  • Razer Viper Ultimate wireless gaming mouse for $79.99 at Amazon and Best Buy (normally $130).
  • Razer Basilisk Ultimate wireless gaming mouse for $99.99 at Amazon (normally $150).
  • Razer DeathAdder V2 wired gaming mouse for $49.99 at Amazon (normally $70).
  • Razer Basilisk V2 wired gaming mouse for $64.99 at Amazon and Best Buy (normally $80).
  • Logitech G203 Lightsync wired gaming mouse for $14.99 at GameStop and Best Buy (normally $35).
  • Logitech G604 Lightspeed wireless gaming mouse for $44.99 at Best Buy (normally $82).
  • Logitech G513 wired mechanical gaming keyboard—GX Blue/GX Brown switches for $99.99 at Amazon (normally $135).
  • Logitech G815 wired mechanical gaming keyboard—Logitech GL Tactile/GL Clicky/GL Linear switches for $149.99 at Amazon (normally $190).
  • Logitech G915 TKL tenkeyless wireless mechanical gaming keyboard—Logitech GL Tactile/GL Clicky/GL Linear switches for $179.99 at Amazon (normally $230).
  • HyperX Alloy Origins wired mechanical gaming keyboard—HyperX Aqua Red switches for $79.99 at Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy (normally $107).
  • Corsair K95 RGB Platinum wired mechanical gaming keyboard—Cherry MX Brown switches for $129.99 at Amazon (normally $195).
  • Aukey KM-P4 XXXL gaming mouse pad—47.2 in. x 23.6 in. x 0.12 in. for $22.49 at Amazon (clip 25% coupon—normally $35).
  • PowerA Moga Mobile Gaming Clip for Xbox wireless controllers for $10.99 at Amazon (normally $15).
  • Genki Covert Dock portable Nintendo Switch dock and charger for $56.25 at Genki (discount seen at checkout—normally $75).
  • Ticket to Ride board game for $24.74 at Amazon (normally $45).
  • Ticket to Ride – Europe board game for $24.74 at Amazon (normally $44).
  • Catan board game for $24.69 at Amazon (normally $43).
  • Pandemic board game for $17.49 at Amazon (normally $35).
  • HP Omen 15 (15-EN0023DX) gaming laptop—AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 15.6-inch 1080p 144Hz, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB for $949.99 at Best Buy (normally $1,300).
  • MSI GL65 Leopard gaming laptop—Intel Core i7-10750H, 15.6-inch 1080p 144Hz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, GeForce RTX 2070 8GB for $1,099.99 at Amazon (normally $1,400).
  • MSI GE66 Raider gaming laptop—Intel Core i7-10750H, 15.6-inch 1080p 240Hz, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, GeForce RTX 2070 Super for $1,699.99 at Best Buy (normally $2,200).
  • Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition gaming desktop—AMD Ryzen 5 3500, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD, GeForce RTX 2060 6GB for $999.99 at Dell (normally $1,290).

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1725860