Games consoles are always hot-ticket items – and the best Black Friday deals often bring an even greater incentive to wait before purchase in the hope of getting a decent chunk of money off. Enough to, say, buy that extra game 'for free'.
I know this as last Black Friday I waited to buy an Xbox Series X which dropped from £479 to just £329. That deal isn't live again just yet, but in this games and consoles Black Friday live round-up, myself and T3's staff of tech experts and gaming enthusiasts will be browsing the latest and greatest offers, keeping this page as up to date.
The format is simple: I've broken down the key deals by PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch sections, in which we'll only highlight the best-of-best offers, predominantly on console hardware. Below that trio of sections is our live blog, where other accessories, trinkets, games and availability updates will feed into this buying feature.
Here's hoping there'll be enough stock to go around and fulfil these great gaming Black Friday deals ahead of the Christmas break. With the likes of Sony's brand-new PS5 Pro already having received a price drop from Argos (update 19 Nov: now at EE Store instead), the hottest products are already being cut in price. I'll be keeping an eye out for games and hardware I want to buy myself and sharing the love below. So happy gaming shopping one and all.
Best gaming Black Friday deals 2024: best deals today
Best PlayStation deals
Best Xbox deals
Best Switch deals
Live blog
Upgrade your controller
You've gotta act quick...
After penning this deal round-up ahead of the weekend just gone, it's only taken a matter of days and hours for the best deals to sell out and/or adjust.
Take the £40 off the PS5 Pro, for example, that Argos stellar deal has now been reduced to just £10. Same to be said of the £30 off the Switch OLED with Mario Wonder, that's also now down to just £10.
But, fret not, myself and my T3 colleagues will be pulling together new and updated deals for all the best games consoles and, as and when we spot them, gaming accessories and, but of course, discounted games too!
Reducio! Harry Potter discount for Switch is magic
Was £49.99, now £14.99: there's nowhere cheaper to obtain Hogwarts Legacy for the Nintendo Switch than from the official Nintendo eShop, where you can download the digital version at a huge discount.
Grab a brilliant PC gaming handheld
Where's PlayStation's own Black Friday sale?
Even though the Xbox Store Black Friday sale started last week, Sony is yet to even announce its own PlayStation Store event yet. Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S players can nab 100s of games with massive discounts already, but PS4, PS5 and PS5 Pro owners are still in the dark. Until now, anyway.
That's because I, news editor Rik, have discovered when the PlayStation Black Friday sale starts, and you don't have too much longer to wait. It kicks off this Friday, 22 November and runs through until 2 December (Cyber Monday).
There will be some massive discounts too, with 2K Games telling me that it'll have great offers across all its games – including Borderlands 3 with a massive 90% off.
Even the recently-released Borderlands Collection: Pandora's Box, which includes the every game in the series and all the add-ons, will have a mammoth 75% off. That means it'll go from over £120 to around £20. I might even be tempted myself.
The best arcade machine of all time, now at a super low price
I'm a sucker for a retro games console or arcade machine, and Arcade1Up's reissued coin-ops are the ideal way to replay the classics in the way they were intended.
That includes what I believe to be the best arcade cabinet of all time, Star Wars, and there's now £100 off the Arcade1Up standing version. It even includes three whole games, so it's even better than the original.
Xbox discounts incoming...
Yesterday it was confirmed by Microsoft that the Xbox Series S would be getting a discount, hurrah! Except, right now, that's only confirmed for the USA, with UK-specific deals yet to be revealed.
I suspect this is a potential positive in disguise, though, as previous Series S deals have hit great rates in the past – and I would not be surprised, therefore, if Microsoft offers a short and sweet sales period on Xbox consoles from 21 November and lasting across the week that follows...
Will the PS5 Pro disc drive ever be restocked?
On my adventures looking out for the best console deals, I struck upon some potentially pertinent information – the PlayStation Disc Drive, which is sold out everywhere, could return to stock next week.
How did I come to this conclusion? Well, Very is selling the PS5 Pro with the Disc Drive as a bundle – with a delivery date set for 29 November, on Black Friday itself. It's £798, so no discount as such – although code EXTRA10 might still be functional.
Here's hoping, therefore, that'll mean standalone drives will also reappear for sale – although I wouldn't expect a discount, given the demand.
PS5 Pro deal is back!
Sound the alarm! The £40 off the PS5 Pro deal, which was kicked off by Argos, has returned – except at EE Store instead. That's a really strong deal for the current world's most-powerful console – and one that's certainly in high-demand. It's not sold-out like the original PS5 was at launch, but these deals and a 29 November payday might encourage buyers to eat up remaining stock...
Upgrade your PS5 with this great pro controller deal
The Nacon Revolution 5 Pro controller is a superb way to beef up your PS5 or even PS4 gaming, offering a great amount of customisation options and more. That even includes weights that can change the heft to suit your play style.
Usually around £200, Argos has it for just £159.99 right now, and in PS5-style colours to boot. It's an even better upgrade for a PS5 Pro, in fact.
Get unbelievable sound with this wireless headset
Whether you're on the lookout for a new console this Black Friday month, or you're already a proud gamer who's open to the idea of a massive audio upgrade, the best gaming headsets are total game-changers. Right now there's a deal on one of our very favourites, too, in the form of the almost peerless SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless.
This brilliant system comprises some of the most comfortable and high-fidelity gaming headphones we've ever used, along with a base station that charges up a spare battery for you. Whenever your headset is running low, you can simply swap those batteries around, netting you a headset that never runs out of juice in practice.
This deal knocks just over £70 off this excellent headset, although if you fancy some brinksmanship there's a pretty good chance that it might creep lower as we get closer to Black Friday itself.
Mark the 21st in your calendars...
After confirming the current console pricing deals on the main page (above) for today, I put my ear to the ground to see what rumours are brewing. And there are certainly a few – whether reputable or not – which are likely to go live at the end of this week, from either tomorrow, Thursday 21 November, or the day after, Friday 22 November.
First up, the PlayStation VR2 is said to be getting a major £170 discount – so if you've been holding out for Sony's second-gen virtual reality kit then I'd certainly wait for the alleged £359.99 price to appear.
Secondly, there's likely to be Xbox hardware deals also incoming. Again, not confirmed outside of the US just yet, but with PlayStation ruling the deals right now, Microsoft surely has to respond. I think the Xbox Series S will see its £199 price drop return, for example. But here's hoping the Xbox Series X also comes back to that £359 price low too.
A fantastic Switch Lite bundle
If you've been sat on the sidelines of the last few years wondering whether the Nintendo Switch is all it's cracked up to be, you have so much to catch up on. Nintendo's console has been an absolute star, with a simply unbelievable roster of top-class exclusives to call on.
The Switch Lite was a fantastic addition to the Switch lineup when it arrived a few years ago, and it marks a brilliant way to play the best Switch games on the go – and this deal at Argos makes it super enticing right now. You can get a Switch Lite bundled with Animal Crossing: New Horizons and 12 months of Nintendo Switch Online, all for £189.99, which is £10 less than the normal price of a Switch Lite on its own.
So, if you want to experience one of the most soothing games of all time, and open the door to a whole world of other Switch titles, be sure to grab this while you can!
This one's for free!
Like a bit of F1? How about a whole lot of F1 for free? That's right, from today through to 25 November, F1 24 will be available as a free trial for everyone across many platforms – PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC (through Steam).
So rather than have to fork out any cash at all, this 'deal' is actually a freebie... Although when you fall in love with the racing sim, I'm sure you'll be feeling the pressure to actually buy it.
Don't get too distracted, though, as it's also Amazon's Black Friday sale commencement date, and you don't want to miss those Lightning Deals while you're trying to zip your way to top of the table.
So when is this Black Friday thing actually happening?
Confusing, isn't it? It's not Black Friday... except it kinda is. Or almost is? I'm not even sure if that's a question or a statement. Either way: people aren't sure when Black Friday falls this year – and retailers aren't making it much clearer, with sales that run all throughout November.
Take that as a benefit though: I don't think the biggest gaming deals will land on the 29 November itself. Amazon has already said its 'WOW! Deals' gaming offers will be on 30 November, so the Saturday, so that's a big one to circle in the calendar for drops on games titles I reckon.
Otherwise I wouldn't fret over the date so much as the deals themselves. If a price suddenly drops and it's from a reputable seller then have at it. I'll continue to highlight great offers in this live blog, as will my T3 colleagues.
Grab a superb pro controller
If you've ever been tempted by a proper professional-grade controller, there's a good chance you've heard of SCUF. It's been supplying controllers to the pros for ages, but its pads have only got better over time.
Now two of its best controllers are on sale for Black Friday, knocking welcome chunks out of normally steep prices. The SCUF Instinct Pro is its Xbox controller of choice, with the exact same silhouette as an official one, plus extra paddle buttons on the rear and the ability to instantly change the travel distance on your triggers for quicker actions. It's down to £169.99 instead of £209.99, which is a welcome £40 off.
If you're a PC gamer and want something expressly aimed at you, though, the SCUF Envision Pro is also discounted, by slightly less. This pad is somewhere between a Sony DualSense and an Xbox Wireless Controller in terms of shape, with parallel thumbsticks if that's your thing. It's down to £159.99 from £189.99 and has some delightfully clicky buttons to offer up.
Xbox announces deal highlights starting tomorrow
Here in the UK, we've been waiting to see what sort of official first-party Black Friday discounts Xbox would bring to the table, and it's just announced exactly that. This year, it looks like the focus is on the Xbox Series S, which will be getting a £40 discount starting at midnight tonight.
That takes this diminutive but extremely affordable Xbox down to just £209.99, which is a pretty terrific price, although it might be worth reminding you that previous years and sales have seen it creep below the £200 mark altogether. It's possible that'll still happen this time around, but it looks like we'll have to rely on other retailers rather than Microsoft itself.
You'll also be able to get 20% off a range of different Xbox Wireless Controller designs, if you're in need of a new gamepad and don't fancy the superb SCUF options that we highlighted earlier.
