The best gaming Black Friday deals 2023: Offers on the PS5, Meta Quest and more

Put down those joysticks, there are deals to be had (iStock/The Independent)

Gamers, it’s sales season, and the month of Black Friday gaming deals has arrived. The sale event offers an ideal opportunity to pick up new gaming gear, whether that’s a PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch or games and peripherals, such as EA Sports FC 24 or an amped-up headset.

Every November retailers including Amazon, Currys, Very and Game discount the latest games and serve up unmissable deals on console bundles, while smaller shops like ShopTo and Box get in on the action too. PlayStation has also announced its dates for Black Friday, with deals on PS5 bundles, controllers, console covers and PS5 and PS4 titles landing on 17 November.

Gaming isn’t the only bit of tech you’re able to get your hands on, either. From laptops, TVs and Apple devices to home appliances such as air fryers, microwaves and dehumidifiers, everything you’ve been searching for throughout the year has been cut in price.

Black Friday is starting earlier and earlier every year, and everyone is invited. We’ve put together your Black Friday cheat sheet, so you can bag the best gaming deals now that retailers have kicked off their sales.

Best Black Friday gaming deals 2023

PlayStation 5 disc edition: Was £479.99, now £379, Very.co.uk

The PlayStation 5 gets a surprise discount for Black Friday, plummeting to just £389.99 between now and 30 November across most retailers. Very has dropped even lower than most, offering Sony’s next-generation console for just £379, the cheapest the PS5 has ever been.

Xbox Series X: Was £479.99, now £359.99, Amazon.co.uk

The Xbox Series X has just plummeted to its lowest ever price this Black Friday, with a discount of over £120. “It’s a thunderously powerful next-generation console,” our writer said in their review. Praising the sleek look, they added: “Aesthetically, and acoustically, the Xbox series X is a console that feels at home in a living room where grown-ups live. Compare that with the superb but ridiculous-looking PlayStation 5, which resembles an abstract sculpture of Harry Hill and requires removing an external wall to get into your house.”

Meta Quest 2 with free £50 Argos gift card: Was £449.99, now £249.99, Argos.co.uk

This is the lowest that the Meta Quest 2 virtual reality headset has ever been. Plus, it comes with a £50 Argos gift card for you to spend after you buy the headset. Securing the top spot in our review of the best VR headsets, we lauded the Meta Quest 2 as a “genuine breakthrough”. While it’s not the most technically advanced virtual-reality headset out there, it’s the first genuinely user-friendly one. “You don’t need an expensive gaming PC to plug it into, and there are no snaking cables to trip over. Instead, you just slip it on, grab hold of the controllers, and are immediately immersed in a believable 3D space,” said our reviewer.

Nintendo Switch OLED with a free copy of ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’ and a three-month Switch Online membership: Was £346.97, now £299.99, Argos.co.uk

This Switch OLED bundle has been reduced by nearly £50 in the Argos Black Friday sale. It’s the best console that Nintendo has ever made, our review praised its “colourful display, better build quality and bigger storage makes it the best version yet”. With this deal, you’re essentially just paying for the console and getting Mario Kart and a three-month Nintendo Switch Online membership for free. Pick it up now and you’ll be racing around Rainbow Road (online) in no time.

PlayStation VR2: Was £529.99, now £509.99, Amazon.co.uk

If you already own a PlayStation 5, you should consider the PS VR2 as an alternative to the Meta Quest. The PS VR2 is wired into the console using a long cable, which is more restrictive than the wireless Meta Quest but enables the headset to produce much more believable and immersive graphics. Right now there’s £20 off at Amazon.

MSI Thin GF63 gaming laptop: Was £1,199, now £699.95, Amazon.co.uk

Here’s a great deal on a gaming laptop packing the latest-generation RTX 40-series GPU. The 15.6in MSI Thin GF63 runs on the 12th-generation Intel Core i5 processor supported by 8GB of RAM, giving you smooth and stable performance when playing even the most graphically demanding games.

‘God of War Ragnarok’, PS5: Was £59.99, now £42.99, Amazon.co.uk

One of our favourite games released last year is currently discounted by 16 per cent. In our 5/5 review, we said: “After the dust has settled and the credits have rolled, God of War Ragnarok is as strong a continuation as anyone could have hoped for, and a fitting end to Kratos’s latest chapter. On its own merits, it’s difficult to fault but on the foundations of 2018’s God of War, it’s nothing short of a masterpiece.”

Logitech G432 wired gaming headset: Was £79.99, now £38.90, Amazon.co.uk

If you’re looking to play multiplayer games online and engage in a civil dialogue with your fellow gamers, then a decent headset-mic combo is for you. Luckily, this offering from Logitech is currently half price. The directional microphone will ensure that all your compliments are clearly heard and the 50mm drivers with 7.1 surround sound should help immerse you in the camaraderie of your team as you politely debate strategy. The headset will work across different devices using a 3.5mm headphone jack and its over-ear design should ensure your ears remain comfortable after a long session. The flip-to-mute mic also ensures that the microphone can easily be switched off when you run out of nice things to say in the lobby.

Panasonic SC-HTB01 soundslayer gaming soundbar: Was £249.99, now £199.99, Amazon.co.uk

If you’re searching for a soundbar specifically designed for gaming this Black Friday, take a look at the Panasonic SC-HTB01 soundslayer, which featured in our round-up of the best soundbars of 2022. In our review, we wrote that while “this tiny soundbar from Panasonic doesn’t look like much, with its miniature size, it’s a surround sound powerhouse when it comes to desktop gaming, slotting neatly underneath any monitor”. They added that it did well at filling a room with sound and that “orchestral game soundtracks sounded epic”.

‘EA Sports FC 24’, Nintendo Switch: Was £54.99, now £27.49, Nintendo.co.uk

For the first time ever, Switch gamers aren’t forced to play a legacy version of Fifa. With EA Sports FC 24, Switch fans can play the full-fat game, including ultimate team, just without cross-play and HyperMotion V. Even better, thanks to Nintendo’s Black Friday sale, you can save 50 per cent on the football game right now.

When is Black Friday 2023 in the UK?

Black Friday is such a sales stalwart that we could forecast when it would fall in 2040 more easily than confirm the release date of the Nintendo Switch 2. That’s because Black Friday takes place at the same time every year – the day after Thanksgiving in the US.

Officially, Black Friday 2023 will take place on 24 November 2023, with the whole shebang concluding on Cyber Monday on 27 November 2023. For those of you wondering about Black Friday 2040? That one will take place on 23 November. Keep testing us, we’ve got all the dates and key information memorised.

When will the best Black Friday deals drop?

Those, of course, are only the official dates. Black Friday should really be renamed Black November because retailers started dropping deals on 1 November. That means you can already secure games and accessories now.

What were the best Black Friday gaming deals last year?

Last year’s Black Friday was full of impressive gaming deals. The Xbox Series S (£249, Currys.co.uk) was reduced to just £189 (its cheapest price ever), thanks to Currys, while Very dropped a £20 saving on the Xbox Series X (£479.99, Very.co.uk). There was a big saving on the Nintendo Switch neon console with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (£354.99, Amazon.co.uk) and we also saw deals on the Meta Quest 2 (£299, Amazon.co.uk), with retailers discounting the virtual-reality headset and Resident Evil 4 by £40.

In terms of games, The Last of Us: Part I was discounted by £20 and Fifa 23 saw £15 slashed off the original price. Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Splatoon 3 and God of War Ragnarok also received healthy price cuts.

Plus, retailers took chunks out of Razer gaming headsets, keyboards and mice, as well as Samsung gaming monitors. Needless to say, it was a good time to stock up on gear, and we’re expecting even better deals this year.

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Find out everything you need to know about Black Friday 2023, with our expert guides