That’s almost four weeks of deals, which sounds great on paper. But there’s an important catch in the announcement: Sony hasn’t published a single discount percentage yet. What we got today is a long preview list of games that will be on sale, and a promise that the actual prices show up on PlayStation Store once the promotion starts. So before anybody starts celebrating a specific price, let’s look at what’s actually confirmed and how to shop it smartly.

The dates matter more than usual this year

According to Sony’s fine print, the promotion begins at 12:00 AM PST on November 4. For those of us on the East Coast, that’s 3:00 AM Eastern, so you can check the store when you wake up Wednesday morning. The sale then refreshes on November 16 at 12:00 AM PST, and it officially wraps at 11:59 PM PST on November 30.

Here’s the part I’d circle in red. Sony says certain discounts will end on November 20, before the promotion is over, and that some deals will be swapped out for new offers. In other words, this isn’t one static sale that sits there for four weeks. A game you see discounted in the first wave might not be discounted in the second, and a game that isn’t marked down on day one could show up after the refresh. Sony’s advice is to check each item’s product page for its own end date, and that’s genuinely worth doing before you assume you can wait until Thanksgiving weekend.

Sony also notes that the promotion and the percentages can differ by region, so prices you see quoted for the UK or Europe won’t necessarily match the US store.

The preview list itself is huge. A few of the bigger names on it: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, God of War Ragnarök, Horizon Forbidden West Complete Edition, Astro Bot, Marvel’s Wolverine Digital Deluxe Edition, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Digital Deluxe Edition, Silent Hill 2, Silent Hill f, Pragmata Deluxe Edition, Nioh 3 Digital Deluxe Edition, 007 First Light Deluxe Edition, Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred, NBA 2K27 Deluxe Edition and Assassin’s Creed Shadows Digital Deluxe Edition.

The indie and mid-size side looks just as deep, with Balatro, Outer Wilds, Stardew Valley, Stray, Return of the Obra Dinn, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, Neon White, Satisfactory, Phasmophobia and Cocoon all on the list. JRPG fans get a strong run too, from Tactics Ogre: Reborn and Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven to several Like a Dragon, Tales of and Atelier entries, plus the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX collection. As always, Sony says the full list and the actual discounts appear on the store when the sale goes live, and the preview is subject to change.

What’s missing is just as interesting as what’s included. Sony’s official Black Friday page says the sale will include offers on digital games, add-ons and PlayStation Plus membership plans, but as of today it simply says the deals are “coming soon.” There’s no word yet on PS5 console pricing, DualSense controllers, headsets or PS VR2. 9to5Toys points out that Sony has usually rolled out its hardware and accessory deals closer to the November 19 to 20 window, so if you’re hoping for a cheaper console or a PS Plus discount, today’s news doesn’t settle that one way or the other. For reference, SILive’s Black Friday rundown notes that last year PS5 models were $100 off and 12-month PS Plus memberships were 33% off, but that’s history, not a promise for this year.

Don’t sleep on the anniversary deals ending Wednesday night

There’s a timing wrinkle that could save you some cash. The PlayStation Store just turned 20, and Sony marked it on November 2 with a post where developers picked the games that surprised them most, alongside a showcase of store deals. Some of those picks are discounted right now on a “Guest Editors Share Their Picks” page on the US PlayStation Store, and I checked the prices this morning:

• Shadow of the Colossus: $4.99, down from $19.99 (75% off). Team Asobi studio director Nicolas Doucet picked it and called it “a masterpiece.”
• Inscryption: $6.99, down from $19.99 (65% off), with the store showing an extra 10% off for PlayStation Plus members. Naughty Dog’s Arne Meyer opened his pick with “I was not ready for Inscryption.”
• Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age, Definitive Edition: $19.99, down from $39.99 (50% off).

According to multiple deal trackers, including Technobezz and HappyGamer, those discounts end on Wednesday, November 4, at 11:59 PM Pacific, which is 2:59 AM Eastern on Thursday. Prices can vary by region, so check your own store before you buy.

Two quick shopping notes from that same page. Shadow of the Colossus and the 2018 God of War carry the PS Plus Extra badge, so if you already pay for that tier, you may not need to buy them at all. And Balatro ($14.99) and Sayonara Wild Hearts ($12.99) are listed at their regular prices on the anniversary page, but both show up on Sony’s Black Friday preview list. If either one is on your wishlist, waiting a day costs you nothing.

I’ll admit that Shadow of the Colossus at five bucks hits me in a personal way. I grew up on the PS2, and that game was the moment a lot of us realized a console game could feel lonely, huge and quietly heartbreaking all at once. The version on sale is Bluepoint’s 2018 remake for PS4, which also plays on PS5, and at that price it’s an easy recommendation for anybody who missed it.

Cody’s take

An early, month-long PlayStation Store sale is good news, especially with a mid-sale refresh that should keep things from going stale. The preview list has real heavy hitters on it, and the mix of first-party blockbusters, big third-party releases and indie favorites means pretty much every kind of PlayStation player will find something.

That said, I’d keep expectations grounded. “Up to 75% off” is a ceiling, not an average, and we won’t know how deep the cuts on the newest games go until the store updates tomorrow. The November 20 cutoff for some discounts is also easy to miss if you’re used to Black Friday being a single weekend. My plan is simple: check the store Wednesday morning, grab the anniversary deals on Shadow of the Colossus or Inscryption before they expire that night if you want them, and look closely at each product page’s end date before you decide to wait. Hardware and PS Plus deals are still a question mark, so if you’re shopping for a console or a membership, hold off until Sony actually announces those offers.

What’s the first thing you’re checking when the sale goes live? I’ll be keeping an eye on the second wave after the November 16 refresh, because that’s where surprises usually show up.

Featured image: Cobalt Blue DualSense controller, photo by Sonson2 via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 (cropped). PlayStation 2 photo by Evan-Amos via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.