Xbox is ready to start its holiday 2018 "The Countdown" sales event, capitalizing on late gift-buyers and post-Christmas shoppers spending their gifted cash. According to community boss Major Nelson, over 800 digital games and add-in packs are featured in the Xbox sale, with at least 200 priced at $10 or less. Plus, there's an extra 10% off for the Xbox God subscription faithful. The Countdown Xbox holiday sale will last from December 20 through January 4.
Similar to the Xbox Black Friday/Thanksgiving sale, the featured games are Forza Horizon 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and the Special and Ultimate editions of Red Dead Redemption 2. But while those games may be the highlights of the holiday season, the best deals are for somewhat less popular and less recent releases:
- Titanfall 2 - 85% Off - $6.00
- Deux Ex: Mankind Divided Digital Deluxe Edition - 85% Off - $6.75
- Rise of the Tomb Raider 20 Year Celebration - 80% Off - $12.00
- Need for Speed Payback Deluxe Edition - 80% Off - $12.00
- Life is Strange Complete Season - 80% Off - $4.00
- XCOM 2 Digital Deluxe Edition - 75% Off - $18.75
- Dragon Age: Inquisition Game of the Year Edition - $75% Off - $10.00
And those are just a few of the relatively recent releases that are severely discounted. For the frugal gamer, there's no better time to buy a game than 1-2 years after the fact when it's packaged with all of its DLC and marked down 75%.
The Xbox holiday Countdown sale isn't just for Xbox One releases, though. There are also a ton of sales on backward compatible games. Double down on the Deux Ex discounts with 90% off Deus Ex: Human Revolution, or revisit Darksiders 2 at 85% off now that the sequel is available. There are hundreds of other older pre-Xbox One games for sale, too. And most of them are even cheaper than the great Xbox One deals on-hand.
Apart from games, there are other Xbox-related sales to take advantage of as well. From now until December 25, Xbox is discounting select Xbox One bundles by $100. That discount includes the Battlefield V, Forza Horizon 4, Fallout 76, Fortnite, and Minecraft bundles, as well as others. Xbox One S, Xbox One X, and Xbox Wireless controller buyers will also get a free digital copy of Gears of War 4 with purchases made between now and January 31.
Perhaps the biggest Xbox sale of the holiday is the return of the $1 Xbox Game Pass month. Available to all non-subscribers, Game Pass will cost just $1 for the first month. And there's no better time to try out Game Pass, with several major indie releases including Below and Ashen launching as part of the program, and Celeste joining the fun in January. Need a Gold subscription to make the most of Game Pass? That's on sale for $1 for the first month, too.
Xbox's The Countdown holiday sale goes live today and will last through January 3. It's the perfect way to start what's likely to be a very exciting 2019 for Xbox.