GameStop might just be aiming to be the first store to open on Black Friday. Every year stores open just a little earlier. What once started in the wee hours of Friday morning became midnight. In recent years that shifted even earlier to 10PM Thanksgiving night. This year, GameStop is making the huge leap forward to 3PM Thanksgiving day. And its online deals start even earlier than that. As for the doorbusters that merit such an early opening, shoppers can expect deals on both versions of Nintendo Switch and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
GameStop made the big announcement today, citing convenience as the reason for the early opening. “We invite customers to beat the Black Friday rush by visiting our digital front door or our 3,700 locations nationwide,” said Chris Homeister, chief merchandising officer for GameStop. Opening at 3PM on Thanksgiving will certainly beat the Black Friday rush, as will starting the online deals at 6PM PT on Wednesday the 27th. With the sales starting so early, the doorbusters will be all gone before Black Friday even begins.
The biggest of the doorbusters is probably the Nintendo Switch. GameStop is offering a bundle for the standard Switch that has a free digital copy of Mario Kart 8 and a $25 gift
coupon. That deal will run Thursday and Friday while supplies last. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, shoppers can grab a Nintendo Switch Lite with a $25 gift coupon. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will be on sale for $39.99 to compliment the Switch deals.
Both Xbox and PlayStation will have console deals as well. GameStop will sell Pre-Owned and Refurbished Xbox Ones for $99. There will also be several Xbox One X and S bundles with games like Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order and NBA 2K20. A generous PlayStation 4 bundle will come with God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn and The Last of Us for $199.99.
GameStop's Black Friday software sales are less impressive. The stand-out is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare at $38. That's a great price for such a recently-released game, and will certainly incentivize those who were on the fence or were thinking about buying it for a loved one. But it also feels like clearing the shelves since the majority of CoD fans already have the game. The $5 deal for Anthem similarly screams "please just get this game off our shelves!" At least there's Gears 5 at $29.99 for those who don't already have it.
Lastly, there's plenty of sales on Funko POP! figures, t-shirts, and random knick knacks. It's all too much to list here, so check GameStop's Black Friday website for the full list of deals. There's a chance you'll find a few stocking stuffers while picking up a console or $5 copy of Anthem. Seriously, someone do GameStop and BioWare a favor and get rid of all these copies of Anthem!
Source: GameStop