Console offers are flying everywhere this Black Friday, whether it’s for the Nintendo’s Switch – which will likely get a successor in the Switch 2 very soon – or the three versions of the Sony PlayStation 5.
Sony and Nintendo make excellent consoles and I have both a PS5 and a Switch that get a lot of use, but I am here to make a case for the Xbox Series X. A console that often gets a bit of a hard time.
See, I think Microsoft’s higher-end console is the best value proposition if you’re looking for a new home console, even if it hasn’t picked up massive Black Friday discounts.
The Xbox Series X is available with a small reduction for Black Friday 2024, with Amazon cutting the £479.99 price down to £457.74 but that still makes it around £60 pricier than the reduced PS5. Still, there’s more to the Series X than meets the eye.
Xbox Series X Black Friday Deals
See below for an overview of the top Black Friday Deals for the Xbox Series X. We’ve also rounded up the best PS5 deals for Black Friday if that’s your console of choice.
Game Pass is king
The key selling point for the Xbox is Game Pass – the all-you-can-play subscription service that gets you loads of games for a monthly fee. I can’t praise Game Pass enough, and it’s the reason I would recommend an Xbox and why my Series X gets so much use.
Buy a Series X, subscribe to Game Pass and you’ve got hundreds of games to play instantly. From blockbusters to indie titles, Game Pass has opened my eyes to so many games I wouldn’t have played if I had to pay £40-£60 a pop. If you plump for the Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you get all Microsoft first-party games on the day of release plus a load of Ubisoft and EA titles, and a huge back catalogue.
It’s a good time to be a Game Pass subscriber
Pick up an Xbox Series X over Black Friday and you’re in for a treat, as it’s a good time to be a Game Pass subscriber. The most recent entry in the Call of Duty series: Black Ops 6 has been included, meaning don’t have to splash out £60 if you solely want to play the, surprisingly excellent, campaign.
Black Ops 6 plays wonderfully well on the Series X, and looks fantastic too. Once you’ve finished that, there are loads of other COD games included too.
But the real star of the Game Pass lineup for the Christmas period is the upcoming addition of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. This adventure game looks fantastic, invoking the classic feel of the iconic films. While the Great Circle is slated for release on PS5, that won’t be until Spring 2025 and, of course, won’t be part of a subscription.
Having such a big game available to play as part of a fairly affordable subscription is great, and it makes the Series X a tempting prospect.
What about the Series S?
Sold alongside the Series X, the Series is smaller, less powerful and, obviously, cheaper. In the Black Friday sales, the Series S has dropped to around £199. This is a good deal.
However, if you can afford it – I still recommend the Series X. It has a disc drive for physical games (including Xbox and Xbox 360 titles) and 4K Blu Ray, double the storage and the ability to play games at higher resolutions and faster frame rates.
