Every year, right at the end of Black Friday, the same listings start popping up on my screen. Gift card deals are pretty popular once the main event has stalled to a close, as shoppers look to take advantage of additional digital sales from their console's storefront. I didn't expect to see the same kinds of offers landing on my desk half way through the month, though.
You can already save 10% on both PlayStation Store and Xbox gift cards at Amazon - weeks ahead of the traditional timeline for these deals. I know Black Friday is creeping forward every year, but this is a real marker of change. I've never seen these discounts live before the big day, but I'll certainly take advantage of them. After all, since Sony took all its PS Plus tiers onto its own network these kinds of gift card deals are pretty much the only way to save on the subscription these days.
After all, grabbing that free cash now means we've still got two weeks to leisurely browse Sony and Microsoft's own sales. Previous years saw me cashing in gift cards as quickly as possible at the end of Black Friday, hoping that digital discounts didn't disappear from the virtual aisles by the time the sun rose the next day. Any early Black Friday gaming deals that give me more time to relax are more than welcome in my books.
Should you buy PlayStation and Xbox gift cards?
Of course, these gift card deals only make real sense if you already have purchases in mind. You're still spending the majority of the card's worth, so those with games or subscriptions in mind are going to benefit the most from these offers. Thankfully, both of these cards can go towards upgrading or padding out their respective brand's subscription services. The PlayStation Store gift card can act as funds to spend on a PS Plus membership, and Xbox players can use their credit towards Game Pass as well.
Value is much higher for Sony players, though. Game Pass deals are already on the shelves, dropping the price of three months down from $49.99 to $29.89 at CDKeys this week. You'd need a $50 gift card to covert that cost if buying direct from Microsoft, which would cost you $45 right now - $15 more than CDKeys' price.
On the flip side, Sony keeps all its PS Plus subscriptions in-house, which means you can't buy them from third parties. That's sneaky - these memberships are almost never discounted. In fact, gift card deals like this represent one of the few chances to save a year.
PlayStation and Xbox gift cards also make excellent gifting opportunities. Know a gamer but don't know what they want? This is about the best thing you could buy for them - just make sure you get their platform right (PS5 or Xbox). To cover the cost of a full game you'll need to grab the $75 PlayStation code or the $70 Xbox code, but there are cheaper titles out there - so $25 / $30 vouchers are still worthwhile.
We're also keeping you topped up with all the latest Black Friday PS5 deals and Black Friday Xbox deals, or take a look at the best Black Friday Nintendo Switch deals for more portable savings.
