I'm back from my holiday hiatus to cover my favourite time of year: the Black Friday sales period! Exactly like you, I'm on the prowl for bargains. I want games and peripherals actually worth owning, if not for me, for somebody else these holidays as a pressie. (But mostly just me.)

For the smoothest shopping experience, be sure to make a bookmark and (freely) sign up for Amazon Prime. Said retailer started their festivities a few days ago and the really good bargains are now here (but for how long is anybody's guess).

For now, let's hook you up with the best deals of the year on games, controllers, monitors, wireless headphones, SSDs, and much, much more. One quick note: to get the most out of this event, you'll probably want to use Amazon Australia's free with a 30-day trial membership. Free shipping is always worth the extra clicks and typing. It can also be easily cancelled for no cost once you've had your fill.

Deal of the Moment

Black Friday Nintendo Switch Deals

• Pokémon Legends: Z A NS2 (-28%) – A$79
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (-23%) – A$69
• Civilization VII (-46%) – A$49
• Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (-70%) – A$24
• Pokémon Legends: Arceus (-20%) – A$64
• Raidou Remastered NS2 (-51%) – A$49
• NBA 2K26 (-63%) – A$44
• Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots (-30%) – A$49
• Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled (-29%) – A$49.90
• Dragon Ball FighterZ (-46%) – A$48.60
• Minecraft Dungeons Ult. Ed. (-67%) – A$20
• Mortal Kombat 1 (-35%) – A$39
• Cyberpunk 2077 Ult. NS2 (-26%) – A$89

Games of the Moment

What's flying off shelves?

• LEGO Party - A$71
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds - A$89
• EA Sports FC 26 (-51%) - A$44

Banger Must-owns

Bucketlist stuff

• Zelda: Breath of the Wild (-12%) - A$79 / $99 (NS2)
• Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (-13%) - A$78 / $99 (NS2)

Switch Accessories

• Cheap JoyCons
• Switch 2 Pro controller - $109.95
• JSAUX Switch 2 Charging Grip (-15%) - $21.24
• Reduced Carry Cases

Or gift a Nintendo eShop Card.

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Black Friday PlayStation Deals

• Ghost of Yōtei (-21%) – A$99
• Epic Mickey: Rebrushed (-71%) – A$29
• Star Wars Outlaws (-78%) – A$24
• Elden Ring (-55%) – A$45
• Rise of the Ronin (-53%) – A$59
• Dead Space (-75%) – A$27
• Darksiders II Deathinitive Ed. (-52%) – A$19
• Battlefield 6 (-37%) – A$69
• Mafia: The Old Country (-34%) – A$59
• Red Dead Redemption (-57%) – A$32.40
• Civilization VII (-59%) – A$49
• Stellar Blade (-37%) – A$79
• Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (-70%) – A$24
• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds (-44%) – A$60
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (-46%) – A$59
• Borderlands 4 (-42%) – A$69
• GTA: The Trilogy (-79%) – A$20.70
• Sniper Elite 4 (-68%) – A$32.30

Games of the Moment

What's in high demand?

• EA Sports FC 26 (-55%) - A$49
• Ghost of Yōtei (-21%) - A$99
• Silent Hill f (-16%) - A$109
• COD Black Ops 7 - A$89
• Borderlands 4 (-42%) - A$69

All-Timers Worth Tracking

Not current, but amazing

• Elden Ring
• Baldur's Gate 3
• Astro Bot

PlayStation Accessories

• DualSense Fancy Colours - A$98
• Samsung 990 PRO SSD 2TB – A$215.32

Or purchase a PS Store Card.

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Black Friday Xbox Deals

• Doom The Dark Ages (-59%) – A$49
• Shovel Knight Treasure Trove (-52%) – A$27.50
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (-77%) – A$20.70
• Star Wars Outlaws (-78%) – A$24
• Grand Theft Auto V (-60%) – A$24
• Split Fiction (-57%) – A$30
• WWE 2K25 (-72%) – A$34
• Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (-70%) – A$24
• Mafia: The Old Country (-34%) – A$59
• Battlefield 6 (-37%) – A$69

What's Big on the Radar?

Headed out the door quick

• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds - A$89
• Borderlands 4 (-17%) - A$99
• EA Sports FC 26 (-23%) - A$85
• Silent Hill f (-16%) - A$109

Must Plays to Own

Timeless crown jewels

• Elden Ring - A$63
• Persona 5 Royal - A$84

Xbox Accessories

• Fancy official controllers
• Game Pass Ultimate 3 Month - $68.95

Or just invest in an Xbox Card.

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Black Friday PC Deals

Mice

• Logitech MX Master 3S Wireless (-48%) – A$88
• SteelSeries Aerox 3 Wireless (-41%) - A$135
• Logitech G PRO X Superlight 2 (-40%) - A$169
• Corsair Scimitar Elite (-36%) - A$89
• Logitech G502 X PLUS (-18%) - A$165
• Logitech Lift Vertical Ergonomic (-39%) - A$79
• Razer DeathAdder Essential - A$39
• Razer Viper V3 (-21%) - A$99

Keyboards

• Corsair K70 RGB PRO (-36%) - $159
• Razer BlackWidow V4 X (-33%) - A$199
• HyperX Alloy Origins 60 (-33%) - A$120

Or just get a Steam Wallet Card.

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Laptop Deals

• ASUS 14" Chromebook (-47%) – A$229
• HP OmniBook X Flip (-39%) – A$1,899
• HP Envy x360 16" (-45%) – A$1,099
• Lenovo ThinkPad E14 (-30%) – A$919

Desktop Deals

• HP OMEN 35L (-41%) – A$4,099
• Lenovo ThinkCentre neo (-27%) – A$1,479

Monitor Deals

• KTC 27” 180Hz, QHD (-31%) – A$212
• MSI PRO MP273A 27" (-42%) – A$139
• Samsung S36GD 24-inch Curved (-41%) – A$135

Component Deals

• AMD Ryzen 5 7600X (-36%) – A$322
• AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D (-18%) – A$629

Storage Deals

• Seagate 5TB External HDD (-33%) – A$199
• SanDisk 512GB Ultra microSDXC (-48%) – A$78

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Black Friday Audio

Gaming Headsets

• SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro (-35%) - A$479
• Razer BlackShark V2 Pro (-20%) - A$279
• Razer Barracuda X (-41%) - A$91
• HyperX Cloud III (-39%) - A$97

Earbuds

• Bose QuietComfort (-32%) - A$198
• Soundcore C30i by Anker (-40%) - A$59

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Black Friday LEGO Deals

• Typewriter (-27%) – A$290
• Darth Maul Mech (-60%) - A$17
• Tow Truck and Sports Car (-27%) - A$22
• Cherry Blossoms (-35%) - A$15
• Ninja Combat Vehicle (-37%) - A$95
• Star Wars Home One (-45%) – A$60
• Icons Fountain Garden (-44%) – A$100
• Mario Kart: Toad’s Garag (-43%) – A$33.90
• Fortnite Durrr Burger (-39%) – A$55
• Da Vinci’s Flying Machine (-38%) – A$62
• Batman Forever Batmobile (-37%) – A$94

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Black Friday Smart Home Deals

How is making life easier around your house related to gaming? Because it creates more hours for gaming.

• Ring Battery Video Doorbell (-50%) - A$75
• Amazon Fire TV Stick (-50%)
• Kindle (-23%)
• Ring Doorbell (-40%)
• Echo Spot (-34%)
• Echo Pop (-42%)
• Echo Hub (-50%)
• Blink Outdoor. (-50%)
• Philips 7000 Series Air Fryer Combi XXXL (-51%) - A$227

Robo Vacs

EA has today announced that the 2026 Formula One World Championship will be coming as a paid expansion for the existing F1 25. The content update is set to reflect all the sport’s upcoming changes next year, with new cars, new drivers, and the new regulations.

The next full game in the series will be delivered in 2027. It will be “reimagined into a more expansive experience with new ways to play for fans around the world,” according to today’s statement. EA explained this plan comes as part of a “multi-year strategic investment” in the publisher’s F1 franchise.

“F1 25 has been an incredible success, fueled by the passion of fans and the energy of the sport,” said Lee Mather, Senior Creative Director at Codemasters. “With Formula 1’s momentum on and off the track, now is the perfect time for us to look ahead and build for the future. We’re fully committed to the EA Sports F1 franchise. Our multi-year plan extends this year’s excitement with the 2026 expansion and reimagines the F1 experience for 2027 to deliver even more for players at every level around the world.”

IGN’s F1 25 review described it as a far broader and better package than last year’s installment, and “comfortably the strongest the series has been since the fan favourite F1 2020.” Codemasters has been building Formula One games since F1 2009 for Wii and PSP, although EA also had its own history with the sport in the early 2000s, beginning with F1 2000 on PS1 and PC.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.

A portable USB monitor has many practical uses, such as a secondary display for your laptop or a travel-friendly screen for your Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck handheld gaming PC. Ahead of Black Friday, Arzopa is hosting some big markdowns on its popular lineup of portable USB monitors via its official AliExpress storefront. Combined with some general AliExpress coupon codes, these deals are the lowest prices I've seen all year long. All of the portable monitors listed ship free from the United States, which means you don't have to worry about tariffs or long shipping times.

Black Friday Arzopa Portable Monitor Deals at AliExpress

Arzopa Z1FC 16" USB-C Portable Monitor for $70.11

HP is offering an outstanding Black Friday deal on its flagship gaming laptop. Right now you can score the powerful OMEN MAX 16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Laptop for just $1,539.99 with free shipping after applying 30% off coupon "OMENMAX30". The RTX 5070 Ti is a powerful mobile GPU that should easily handle the newest and most demanding games.

OMEN MAX 16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Laptop for $1,539.99

There are a ton of LEGO Harry Potter sets you can buy, but there's really only one that looks like it also belongs to LEGO's botanical line. The Mandrake set is essentially a little potted plant with a face that you can actually fully pull out of its pot. It's a fun little tribute to the screaming root from the Harry Potter series that doubles as a nice desk accessory. And for a limited time, it has dropped to its lowest price ever on Amazon.

The LEGO Mandrake set was originally released back in 2024 for $69.99 and hasn't dropped below the $50 mark until just recently. At $40.99 this is a Harry Potter gift I'd recommend picking up for either the adult fan or youngster in your life. This early deal comes just days before Amazon's Black Friday sale and will potentially be gone before then.

LEGO Harry Potter Mandrake Deal at Amazon Today

If you're willing to splurge on a higher end TV and you like Sony, here's a Black Friday deal that's right up your alley. Amazon and Best Buy have both discounted all sizes of the 2025 Sony Bravia XR8B 4K OLED Google TV down to their lowest prices of the year. That means 77-inch, 65-inch, and 55-inch TVs are all on sale right now. Although the Bravia 8 is priced lower than most OLED TVs, it's still an outstanding candidate for streaming 4K HDR movies or playing games in 4K at up to 120fps on your PlayStation 5 console.

2025 Sony Bravia XR8B 4K OLED TVs on Sale for Black Friday

Maintaining a tidy desk area doesn't have to be labor intensive or expensive. Compressed air canisters used to be the standard but nowadays there is a more versatile and cost effective solution. Amazon is offering Amazon Prime members the JVSCAM Cordless Rechargeable Electric Air Duster (Air Blower) for just $19.98 after coupon code "U6C8Z5P7". This has become the best selling air duster on IGN because it's so cheap. Most electric air dusters under $50 on Amazon are pretty much identical, so I'd recommend just getting whichever one is least expensive.

JVSCAM Cordless Electric Air Duster for PC for $19.98

Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the world's premier trading card game, is as popular as it's ever been. Aside from the cards themselves, longtime Magic players know that there are countless accessories and other goodies to enhance your experience.

With Black Friday coming up soon (November 28), I've compiled a list of great MTG gifts, from playmats and card sleeves to dice and merch, for that special Magic player in your life.

As a competitive player of 10+ years, these are products I've had and would buy for my personal use, so rest easy knowing that these suggestions aren't without extensive trial and error.

Top Magic: The Gathering Gifts

Magic has been around for over 30 years, but thanks to the recent crossover sets with other IPs, what Wizards of the Coast (WoTC) has dubbed Universes Beyond, its audience has grown monumentally. Properties like The Lord of the Rings, Fallout, Assassin's Creed, and more have all received the MTG treatment, with the Avatar: The Last Airbender set releasing next week as the next crossover. The next Universes Beyond crossover after the in-universe Lorwyn Eclipsed set is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Both of these upcoming sets are available to preorder.

Sealed Product

Magic: The Gathering sets are released every few months, and with them come various sealed products to help supplement your collection. You have booster boxes, collector boosters, starter kits, commander decks, the list goes on. I recommend starting with bundles of the most recently released sets, or looking back to expansions like Edge of Eternities. They make great gifts, as they include nine booster packs, an alternate-art promotional card, extra land cards, a spindown life counter, and the box itself is a great storage solution for extra cards.

Card Sleeves

You have all these fancy new cards, what are you supposed to put them in? Card sleeves are the perfect solution not only for protection but for easily shuffling. Ultimate Guard and Ultra PRO are some of the best MTG accessories brands around, but Dragon Shield sleeves are my go-to recommendation as a gift for dad. The Ultimate Guard Katana sleeves are great, too. The matte sleeves are crisp and feel great in your hands. No matter what you pick, make sure you get standard size sleeves, not Japanese card size -- Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are much smaller than Magic cards!

Deck Boxes

Your cards are now sleeved up and ready for battle. Now you need a reliable deck box. Here, you can't go wrong with Ultimate Guard's sturdy options. I'm a big fan of the Flip 'n' Tray myself, as it can hold a fully sleeved deck, sideboard, and tokens, along with a built-in dice compartment. For larger storage solutions, there are massive boxes that can hold up to 500 loose cards. All Ultimate Guard options come in a handful of different colors, and the Ultra PRO boxes sport some great official MTG art.

Playmats

Playmats are a must-have for any Magic player, since playing without one can make it hard to pick your cards up off the kitchen table. Usually made of the same material as a standard mousepad, many people (myself included) like to use mats featuring art of their favorite cards or of their proudest Magic accomplishments. You can even buy blank white playmats if you find yourself at a Magic Con and want to commission your favorite artist to make it look snazzy!

Dice and Counters

Keeping track of Planeswalker loyalty, +1/+1 counters, or Finality counters are a massive headache without an efficient way of doing so. Luckily, a set of D6 will set you right. Some more unique cards, like Qarsi Revenant, give other creatures ability counters that are hard to keep track of, so I highly recommend a set of ability counters to go along with your accessories arsenal.

Binders

If you have rare or valuable cards you don't want to store in a bulk storage box, binders are the way to go to keep them nice and pristine. You can get various sizes and colors from both Ultimate Guard and Ultra PRO, but the Zipfolio from Ultimate Guard is my go-to for expensive singles. These fit great in your backpack for when you're heading out to your local Friday Night Magic

Other Accessories

These suggestions are just scratching the surface of what these accessory makers have to offer. There are countless other sleeves, boxes, and mats to pick from, so pick your favorite Magic player's favorite for a great gift. Other accessories I recommend are lifepads; some Magic players prefer to write their life totals down and take notes instead of using the MTG Companion app or a spindown counter.

Dry erase tokens are great for cards with copy abilities. A playmat tube is a great storage solution to keep your mats dry and safe, and the Ultra PRO land station is a good way to sort your basic lands or have lands ready for your booster draft night.

Merch

Did you know that the IGN store has some awesome Magic: The Gathering merch? We have a handful of t-shirts, a crewneck sweater, and even a 17oz stainless steel water bottle for sale. These make great gifts if you aren't quite sure what cards, sets, or formats your favorite Magic player enjoys!

Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.

Twisted Metal Season 3 has reportedly received the green light at Peacock but will return without its original showrunner.

An update for the future of PlayStation’s Twisted Metal TV adaptation comes from Variety, which says more episodes for the Anthony Mackie-starring series are on the way. A shakeup, however, means co-creator and showrunner Michael Jonathan Smith won’t be attached going forward.

It’s unclear why Smith is departing the video-game-to-live-action-show project. David Reed, known for his work as a writer for The Boys, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and The Magicians, will board as showrunner and an executive producer under an overall deal with Sony Pictures Television for Season 3 instead.

A Season 3 renewal for Twisted Metal arrives after the Season 2 premiere in July, as the show continues to bring in viewers. NBCUniversal states the 12-episode run has reached 993 million minutes viewed so far.

Twisted Metal began bringing iconic PlayStation characters to television screens when Season 1 premiered in 2023. It stars Mackie as John Doe, with characters like Calypso, Agent Stone, and Mr. Grimm played by Anthony Carrigan, Thomas Haden Church, and Richard de Klerk, respectively. There’s also, of course, franchise mascot Sweet Tooth, who is portrayed by Joe Seanoa and voiced by Will Arnett.

Twisted Metal is a franchise that has gone without a proper video game entry for 13 years, but that isn’t stopping Peacock from bringing its cartoonish vehicle combat to streaming audiences. Co-creators Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are back as executive producers for Season 3, with Arnett and Marc Forman also on board via Electric Ave. Mackie will return as an executive producer through Make It Gravy Productions, with Inspire Entertainment’s Jason Spire, Artists First’s Peter Principato, PlayStation Productions’ Asad Qizilbash and Carter Swan, and Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hermen Hulst also attached.

Details on how Twisted Metal Season 3 will continue the story remain a mystery, with release date plans and casting details also under wraps. In the meantime, you can read why we think Season 2 deserved a 7/10 in our review. You can also read about the canceled Twisted Metal game that was revealed earlier this year.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Vedinad, developer of Megabonk, has withdrawn his game from The Game Awards following its nomination for Best Debut Indie Game, saying it doesn't qualify for the category.

In a post to Twitter/X from the official Megabonk account, vedinad made the announcement today:

"I'm withdrawing from The Game Awards.

"It's an honor and a dream for Megabonk to be nominated for TGA, but unfortunately i don't think it qualifies for the category 'Debut Indie Game'

"I've made games in the past under different studio names, so Megabonk is not my debut game 🥸

"i really appreciate the nomination, support and votes, but it doesn't feel right in this category. you should vote for another one of the amazing debut titles, they are all amazing games!

"thanks again! new megabonk update coming soon ✌️"

Update 2.23pm PT: Megabonk was listed as a nominee under Best Debut Indie, along with Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Despelote, and Dispatch. Since this statement, The Game Awards creator Geoff Keighley has shared a statement of his own acknowledging the request and stating that Megabonk would be removed in a Twitter/X post. At the time of this update, Megabonk was still listed on The Game Awards website as a nominee.

"@MegabonkGame, a nominee for Best Debut Indie Game, reached out to clarify that he is an established solo developer who had been presenting himself as a new creator under the name Vedinad.

"We’re grateful for his honesty. As a result, MegaBonk will be removed from the category.

"He’ll share more about his story when he’s ready, but we respect that he didn’t want to take recognition away from other debut teams — even though the game itself is outstanding."

Original story continues below:

Critically, Best Debut Indie is awarded to the "best debut game created by a new independent studio." So what counts as a new, independent studio? This definition certainly can get a little fuzzy - game dev teams are often Ships of Theseus, with certain groups sticking together, hiring others, and rebranding. For instance, Dispatch was made by AdHoc Studio, and is the team's collective first original game. However, AdHoc was founded by a team of former Ubisoft and Telltale developers who had previously been working together. Cocoon, by Geometric Interactive, won Debut Indie back in 2023 and was arguably in a similar situation with former developers from Playdead. But by that logic, it's also unlikely anyone's "first game" would ever make it to The Game Awards, as most people's first projects are small, student, or experimental.

Vedinad's argument at least makes a bit more sense for himself, given that he is effectively a solo developer and has worked on other projects under other names. But even solo developers have help: Miguel Angel, for instance, is credited with the OST, Giovanni Fim made the Steam art, and there are a handful of names listed as playtesters, as well as a "special thanks" to vedinad's mom. Vedinad seems to be as close to a solo dev as anyone really gets. What really is a game studio, anyway?

What this ultimately seems to boil down to is that there's at least some level of confusion about what the categories of The Game Awards actually mean. This isn't the first time this has happened. In 2023, Dave the Diver - a game made by a subsidiary of Korean gaming giant Nexon - was up for Best Indie, leading TGA creator Geoff Keighley to respond that indie can "mean different things to different people," and even the director admitted the nomination was confusing. We've also seen some oddities like Sifu being up for Best Fighting Game in 2022 (it's an action beat-em-up), and even some recent eyebrow raisers like Monster Hunter Wilds being nominated this year for best RPG.

Define it all however you want, but Megabonk's developer has spoken, as has Keighley. You can catch up on all the other 2025 nominees right here, and check out our early thoughts on Megabonk here.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.