It’s not just Steam that is gearing up for its big winter sale – Microsoft Xbox has some offerings in the pipeline as well with its 2023 Season of Xbox event.

Xbox Wire has just posted a blog highlighting that more than 50 of your favorite games will have new characters, levels, and skins (Minecraft will so be one of those!) alongside a December Countdown Sale and easy points to be gained in Microsoft Rewards.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will also still get their 10% off on top of that, so if you are a subscriber you can expect to save even more money when buying that game you have had your eye on all year.

When does the Xbox Countdown Sale start?

The Xbox version of the Steam Winter Sale starts earlier than Valve’s discounting season beginning on 17th December and may be aiming to take your money off you before you spend it all on your PC gaming. Microsoft is billing it as its largest tentpole sale ever with over 1,400 games on offer including 130 DLC and virtual currency offers. This will let you breathe new life into some of the games you already have stacked in your library.

Xbox says there will be further updates each week and in this week’s Sneak Peak the titles listed are:

• Dead by Daylight
• Rainbow Six Stage
• Just Dance 2024
• Call of Duty
• Dying Light 2: Stay Human

At this stage, we can’t tell what the discounts will be but already there are games there that would grace a place in most Xbox collections, certainly at the right price. The sale is set to end on January 2, 2024, so you will have plenty of time to make your mind up over which games you want to plump for. We are particularly keen to see what DLC packs are on offer when the sale date comes around.

Paul McNally

Paul has been around consoles and computers since his parents bought him a Mattel Intellivision. He spent over a decade as editor of popular print-based video games and computer magazines, including a market-leading PlayStation title. Has written gaming content for GamePro, Official Australian PlayStation Magazine, PlayStation Pro, Amiga Action, Mega Action, ST Action, GQ, Loaded, and the Daily Mirror. Former champion shoot ’em-up legend.