Tools
Games go on sale in a rhythm, and once you can see it, you stop paying full price out of panic. This calendar maps the year: which stores to watch, when they typically discount, and how to get alerts straight from the store, so a birthday or a "please can I have it" doesn’t catch you at the worst moment.
Showing sales for the United States
Switch to CanadaStrongest period ahead
Black Friday through early January
The broadest stretch of the year: Black Friday and Cyber deals flow into December holiday sales, then post-holiday clearance.
Next confirmed event
Steam Autumn Sale
Oct. 1 to 8, 2026. Announced by the store, so this one you can actually plan around.
Two honest caveats before you plan: some timing below is confirmed by the store and some is just a recurring pattern (each window says which), and no sale discounts every game. Prices and participation vary by title.
The calendar
Pick the stores your family actually uses, or browse everything. Each window says whether its dates are confirmed or just typical, and links to its sources.
12 sale windows shown for November in the United States.
Research last verified August 31, 2026 · 12 windows shown
Target
Physical
Late November
Target’s strongest gaming window, with extra automatic deals for free Target Circle members.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
Amazon
Physical
Late November through December
Fast-moving price competition on boxed games, consoles, and accessories through the holiday stretch.
Your move: Check the seller identity and return terms; prices can change several times a day.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
GameStop
Physical
Late November
GameStop competes on boxed games and collector editions, and its pre-owned (used) section can undercut new-game sales.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
Walmart
Physical
Late November
Mainstream boxed games, consoles, and family bundles at aggressive prices, with a dedicated gaming category.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
Best Buy
Physical
Late November
Best Buy’s strongest window for consoles, controllers, boxed games, and bundles, with a dedicated gaming deals page.
Your move: Black Friday now stretches over weeks. Note early prices so you can judge later waves.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
Nintendo eShop
Digital + physical
Late November to early December
Nintendo’s Black Friday moment, and one of the two broadest windows for its own games, digital and boxed. Nintendo also coordinates boxed-game prices across major retailers here.
Your move: If a first-party game (one Nintendo makes itself) is on the list, this is usually as good as its price gets before the holidays.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
GOG
Digital
Late November to early December
GOG joins the Black Friday window with store-wide discounts on its DRM-free catalog.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
Costco
Physical
November through December
Console-plus-game bundles and discounted digital gift cards for members. Selection is small but the bundle math can be good.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
PlayStation Store
Digital + physical
Late November
The strongest PlayStation window of the year, covering digital games, hardware, accessories, and the PlayStation Plus subscription.
Your move: Check whether the game is already in PlayStation Plus before buying, and wishlist the exact edition you’d actually get.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
Xbox / Microsoft Store
Digital + physical
Late November to early December
Xbox’s biggest sale of the year. The 2025 event covered more than 2,000 games, though offers vary by market.
Your move: Verify whether a purchase covers console, Windows PC, or both (Xbox Play Anywhere) before buying.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
GOG
Digital
Late October to early November
The fall entry in GOG’s seasonal rhythm, right before the Black Friday rush.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
Epic Games Store
Digital
Late October to early November
A themed sale skewing to spooky titles. Worth a look, but check age ratings extra carefully in this one.
A recurring pattern based on recent years, not a promise. Wait for the store’s current-year announcement before treating dates as set.
Sources
Alerts, straight from the source
Every store below runs its own wishlists, newsletters, or deal alerts. They’re free, they come from the store itself (not from us; MPC doesn’t operate any of these), and they’re the most reliable way to catch a discount on a specific game. All of these links leave our site.
PC games. Valve publishes its four big seasonal sale dates months ahead, so you can genuinely plan around them.
Watch out: Smaller themed "Fests" are narrower events, not store-wide lows.
Saving a game to your wishlist (a free watch list tied to your account) lets Steam email you when that game goes on sale. Delivery is not guaranteed for every promotion, so check notification settings.
Switch games. The broad windows repeat every year, but names, exact dates, and which games join are announced close to each event.
Watch out: Nintendo’s own games (Mario, Zelda) join sales selectively. A store-wide sale does not mean the game your kid wants is in it.
Turn on promotional emails in your Nintendo Account settings to hear about sales and offers. For alerts on one specific game’s price, a tracker like Deku Deals works better.
PlayStation games. The four big sale labels come back reliably every year, which makes them good comparison windows.
Watch out: Individual games can end their discount before the sale banner does. Confirm the price and end date on the game’s own store page.
Wishlist a game (save it to your account’s watch list), then enable Wishlist Updates on the PS5 so the console tells you when it goes on sale.
Xbox and Windows PC games. Smaller deals run all year; the big seasonal events are less pre-announced than Steam’s.
Watch out: Before buying, check whether the game is already included in Game Pass (Xbox’s subscription) your family may already pay for.
Wishlist a game (save it to your account’s watch list) and the console can notify you when it goes on sale.
PC games (it’s the store behind Fortnite). The MEGA Sale and Holiday Sale are dependable anchors, and there’s a free game most weeks.
Watch out: Epic Rewards are store credit for later, not money off today. Compare the actual cash price first.
Wishlist a game (save it to your account’s watch list) and enable the email setting so Epic tells you when it’s discounted.
PC games you want to truly own. GOG sells games without copy protection (DRM-free), so they keep working even offline or if the store changes.
Watch out: Confirm the GOG version has the same updates and add-ons as other stores’ versions before assuming it’s identical.
GOG’s newsletter covers deals, giveaways, and store news. You need to be signed in to manage subscriptions.
Boxed games, controllers, headsets, and storage. Prime events and Black Friday bring fast-moving price competition.
Watch out: Check who the seller actually is (Amazon vs. a third-party marketplace seller) and the return terms before buying.
Amazon’s app can alert you about deals you’re watching around Prime events. For a target-price email on one item, pair it with camelcamelcamel.
Consoles, controllers, storage, boxed games, bundles, and open-box (returned, inspected, discounted) hardware.
Watch out: Stock and promotion exclusions vary, and some listings come from marketplace sellers rather than Best Buy itself.
Account email preferences cover member offers and personalized deal messages.
Mainstream boxed games, consoles, and family bundles, plus weekly rollback pricing between events.
Watch out: Watch for third-party marketplace sellers and their shipping terms.
Covers sale alerts, seasonal offers, and weekly-circular updates where offered.
Boxed games, controllers, family titles, and order-pickup convenience, with extra deals through the free Target Circle program.
Watch out: Circle deals need the free membership activated, and local stock varies.
Weekly Ad highlights and top deals by email.
Free membership that applies automatic deals and personalized bonuses.
Trade-ins, pre-owned (used) games, collector editions, and store bonuses.
Watch out: Trade values, condition, and local stock vary store to store.
The email signup lives in the homepage footer. It covers promotions, coupons, releases, and events.
Console and game bundles, controllers, and discounted digital gift cards, mostly around the holidays.
Watch out: Requires a membership, and the gaming selection is a handful of items rather than a full catalog.
Covers Costco news, promotions, and special offers. Gaming stock still varies by warehouse.
The curated layer
That part is what MPC is for. When a sale worth your attention comes up, we send a short note with the handful of games we’ve actually looked at, and skip the rest.
The honesty check
A "70% off" badge means nothing without knowing what the game usually costs. These free trackers show a game’s price history so you can see whether a sale price is genuinely good. They’re independent sites, not MPC projects.
Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox price history and wishlist alerts.
Use U.S. pricing and verify the physical seller and shipping.
PC price history across authorized stores.
Covers authorized resellers; check the activation region.
Steam-specific price graphs and recorded lows.
Use the U.S.-dollar history; it only covers Steam.
Amazon price charts and target-price email alerts.
Track Amazon’s own price and third-party prices separately.
Historic sold prices for physical and retro games.
Best for used and collector value, not new-retail promotions.
Before you bookmark it
Confirmed dates are published by the store itself, so you can plan on them. A typical window is a pattern: the sale has come back around the same time in recent years, but the store hasn’t promised it will this year. We label every window so you can tell which is which, and we never dress a pattern up as a promise.
No. Sales are store-wide events, but each game’s publisher decides whether to join and how deep the discount goes. The game your kid wants may sit a sale out entirely. That’s why a wishlist alert on the specific game beats watching the sale banner.
A wishlist is a free watch list built into a store account. You save the exact game (and the exact edition) you might buy, and the store can notify you when it goes on sale. It’s the closest thing to a price alert the stores themselves offer, and it costs nothing.
Not automatically. A big percentage badge can sit on a price that was matched or beaten earlier in the year. The reliable check is a price-history tracker: compare today’s price against the game’s recorded low before buying. The tools section below lists the trackers we’d actually use.
It’s built from official store announcements, published sale schedules, and retailer event pages, compiled into MPC’s own research documents and last verified on August 31, 2026. Every window links to its sources, so you can check our work.
The MPC briefing
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