Black Friday is in the rear-view mirror and Christmas is fast approaching, and so are the Christmas sales.
That means bargains can be had on plenty of products, including consoles, gaming headsets, keyboards, mice, and just about everything else gaming-related – you just need to know where to look. The problem is, with so many misleading deals, how can you find genuinely good discounts? That’s where we at Tech Advisor come in.
Here’s our guide to getting the most out of Christmas gaming deals, no matter if you’re a console or PC gamer. We’re all equal here.
Best Christmas gaming deals
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1. Razer Iskur Gaming Chair
From: eBuyer
Was: £349.98
Now: £279.99 (£70 off)
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eBuyer is offering one of the best gaming chair deals available right now, slashing £70 off the RRP of the Razer Iskur gaming chair, featuring built-in lumbar support, 4D armrests, high-density foam and a pleather finish – all you need for a comfy gaming session.
3. Nintendo Switch + Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + Nintendo Switch Online (3 Months)
Now: £259.99
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Nintendo is bundling the Switch with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and 3 months of Nintendo Switch Online for just £259 – the RRP of the console alone. It’s a fantastic deal that’ll likely sell out very quickly, so you’ll have to be fast! It’s also available via ShopTo on eBay at the same price, and there’s limited stock in-store at Tescos at an even cheaper £239.99, but availability varies from store to store.
5. Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition (1TB, Refurbished)
From: musicMagpie (via eBay)
Was: £449.99
Now: £269.99 (£180 off)
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It might not be the Xbox Series X, but the Xbox One X is still a capable 4K games console and, crucially, it’s the limited Project Scorpio Edition only available when the console first launched. It’s refurbished, rather than new, but musicMagpie claims it has been “fully tested and restored to factory settings by our in-house technicians”. The discount should be automatically applied at checkout, but if not, use code CRIMBO10MM.
What to expect from Christmas sales
While some retailers offer genuinely great deals, others simply raise the price of products in the run-up to Christmas to drop them back down to the same level and make them appear like a good deal.
So, when it comes to gaming deals, you’ll have to have your wits about you.
With that being said, there are some great gaming deals to be had this Christmas. Previous years have seen retailers offering discounted bundles on consoles like the PS4, Xbox One and Switch, pairing the console with games and other accessories – perfect if you’re new to a platform.
There were also discounts on consoles themselves, especially Microsoft’s Xbox One S, though the Nintendo Switch didn’t drop in price. We expect much the same this year, especially considering Nintendo recently dropped the RRP of the standard Nintendo Switch to £259 in the UK (though not in the US) and additional discounts via sites like eBay over the Black Friday shopping period.
You’ll likely find deals on the last-gen PS4 and Xbox One as retailers try and shift remaining stock, but if you were hoping to find a deal on the next-gen PS5, Xbox Series S|X or even the new Nintendo Switch OLED, you may be disappointed.
The new consoles are in hot demand, so much so that retailers can’t get enough stock to sell to consumers at full RRP, let alone at a discounted price. Next-gen bundles could be a possibility, but like with the consoles themselves, they’ll sell out very quickly so you’ll have to be fast if you spot one.
It’s not all about consoles at Christmas though; you’ll also find heavy discounts on games, controllers, headsets and other accessories that’ll improve your gaming experience.
Of course, there’s also the other side of gaming to consider: PC.
Much like with consoles, there will likely be deals on pre-built gaming PCs sporting the latest components for a great gaming experience on any budget. In fact, it’ll likely be the only way you’ll get your hands on a PC with an Nvidia RTX 30 Series or AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics card, as the ongoing stock shortage means PC retailers are prioritising PC builds overselling the components individually.
With the current situation expected to extend well into 2022, don’t expect deals on graphics cards this Christmas. In fact, if you see them anywhere near RRP and in stock, that’ll be impressive enough!
Where to find the best Christmas gaming deals
So, where can you find these great gaming deals as they arise? We’ll be rounding up the best Christmas deals below, but if you want to look yourself, the first stop should be retailers themselves.
The key retailers that offer the best Christmas-themed gaming deals tend to be GAME, Amazon, John Lewis, Argos and Currys, Newegg, Best Buy and Walmart as well as the likes of the Nintendo eShop, PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store if games are what you’re after. There are also PC specialists like Overclockers UK and Box that offer tempting PC gaming deals.
There are also third-party tools that you can use to not only discover new deals, but verify that the deal you’ve found is genuine.
If community-sourced deals are your thing, HotUKDeals is a great start. You can set up alerts for specific products and you’ll only be notified once deals are getting a lot of attention. There’s a rating system that’ll let you know at a glance whether a deal is good or not, and the comment section will mention any issues with the deal.
If you’re an Amazon shopper, CamelCamelCamel is your friend. You can search either by product name or Amazon URL and look up the price history over the past year or so. It’ll also show you at a glance its highest and lowest price ever, so you’ll know if you’re getting a good deal or not.
PriceSpy is another worth a mention, comparing deals from all the major retailers on a product-by-product basis to provide a good overview of current prices right now. What’s marked as a Christmas deal on one site may actually be cheaper on another.
