Microsoft kicked off the Xbox Store Countdown sale on Tuesday, which it dubs the “biggest sale ever.” Deals for Xbox One and Xbox 360 games will run over the next 17 days, but whether discounts on games like Rise of the Tomb Raider , Halo 5: Guardians , Destiny: The Taken King , Call of Duty: Black Ops III , and others are deep enough to pick up is your call.
There are two sets of deals for the Xbox Store Countdown sale. The first set of weekly deals starts today and will run through Monday, December 28. The second set of weekly deals will go live on December 29 and run through the end of the sale to January 7. There will also be Daily Deals from today through December 31.
Xbox LIVE Gold members will get the best deals with discounts up to 85 percent off select games. And really, you’ll want a subscription anyways, as it is necessary to play and enjoy a large number of Xbox One titles. Membership costs $60 for 12 months or $25 for three. However, a year-long membership can frequently be found between $30 and $40 for deal hunters.
The Daily Deals for the first week of the Xbox Store Countdown sale include the PopCap Bundle containing Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare and Peggle 2: Magical Masters Edition for $15 for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers. Garden Warfare is also free as part of the EA Access subscription service, and a sequel is coming in February.
The other Xbox Store Daily Deal is Need for Speed for $24. The reboot of Electronic Arts’ long-running arcade racing game was only released last month for the Xbox One and received mixed reviews, according to Metacritic . A $24 price is not bad, but this is another title is likely headed to EA Access soon.
Some of the best picks for the Xbox One include Dragon Age: Inquisition – Game of the Year Edition slashed to 60 percent off for Xbox LIVE Gold users. Picking up one of the best RPGs of 2015 plus all of its DLC for $24 isn’t a bad haul. The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt is similarly priced at $25, so that’s two of the best Xbox One games of the year with hundreds of hours of play for less than $50.
Biggest. Sale. Ever. Daily #Xbox deals [E-M] from 12/22-1/7. Let the #Countdown begin: https://t.co/yWHUS5mB7y pic.twitter.com/oqqSr3h7oj
— Xbox (@Xbox) December 21, 2015
Destiny: The Taken King received a sharp discount for just the expansion itself at $29.99, plus the Legendary Edition marked down $40.19 for Xbox LIVE Gold members who are starting new in Bungie’s shooter. Action fans should also consider Rise of the Tomb Raider at $40.19 along with others such as Grand Theft Auto V and Batman: Arkham Knight at 40 percent off, Transformers: Devastation at 50 percent off, and Borderlands: The Handsome Collection at 60 percent off.
Xbox One owners looking at Xbox 360 deals for backwards compatible titles will have a few treats as well. Call of Duty: Black Ops , which will eventually be backwards compatible, is just $10. Meanwhile, Fable II and Fable III are both $5 each. Meanwhile, Portal: Still Alive and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga are slashed down to similar levels.
Head to the official Xbox Store Countdown sale page to see the entire collection of deals. Don’t expect to see deeper discounts for any of the games listed there in the next round of weekly deals or the daily deals. It’s extremely rare for Microsoft to offer a bigger cut on the price of games during the same promotion.
What do you think of the first round of deals for the Xbox Store Countdown sale? Sound off in the comments below.
[Image via Xbox /Twitter]