The best cheap games to play this Christmas on PlayStation, Xbox and Steam

Christmas and videogames. When you think of one, you think of the other. That might not have been true when the Roman festivals Saturnalia and Sol Invictus evolved to incorporate Christian sentiment, but many consoles under the tree and blissful annual leave days later, a glorious association has formed between late December and sitting down to save the world with a pad in your hand.

Gaming sadly isn’t immune to the eye-watering price increases that seem to have snuck into every crevice of our bank statements, though, so rather than take out a second mortgage to fund your recreation, we’ve sifted through the storefronts and pulled out these particularly enticing deals so you can buy them for less.

PlayStation Store

DiRT Rally 2.0: £12.49

Don’t worry, DiRT Rally 2 – we still love you, even if we are currently obsessed with Assetto Corsa Rally’s rather sterner take on loose surface driving. For this heavily discounted price, you get one of the best rally games ever and a festive period rich in hairpin turns and Scandi flicks. Sounds like a heck of a deal to us.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Deluxe Edition: £11.39

Given the mind-melting scale of modern AssCreed titles, this probably works out at about three pence per hour of enjoyment. Valhalla sees the series formula adapted for Viking times, and places you in an open-world England so vast and detailed you’ll get a nosebleed.

Spyro Reignited Trilogy: £12.24

Yes, you probably will lose cool points if your tweenage cousin walks in and catches you saving dragons instead of twerking in Fortnite. But the sting of adolescent scorn only lasts so long, and you’ll be lost in a reverie of PS1 memories and primary colours anyway so you’re unlikely to care.

Horizon: Zero Dawn Complete Edition: £17.24

Modern civilisation got a bit cocky in Horizon’s alt universe and wound up getting sent back to a pseudo-stone age where previously advanced technology exists only as half-understood relics. It’s your job, therefore, to saunter around shooting arrows into techno dinosaurs and find those relics. Admittedly, there is more to the plot – and since the Complete Edition is on sale bundled with the expansion, this is a good time to brush up on it.

Bloodborne Game of the Year Edition: £14.99

Admittedly the year in question is 2015, a full decade ago now. But many Soulslike aficionados still namecheck Bloodborne as the best title that Dark Souls studio FromSoftware has ever produced. Disagree? Play it anyway. It’s fifteen quid.

Xbox Store

Battlefield 6: £48.99

Don’t worry, we haven’t overdosed on Fortnum & Mason chutney and subsequently became so decadent that we think £49 for a game is cheap. Rather, it’s that Battlefield 6 is a very recent game, a very impressive and explosion-packed game, and one that usually costs – you might want to sit down – £70. This is as cheap as you’ll find it for a while.

Arc Raiders: £24.79

Still not pocket change, but Arc Raiders is the extraction shooter on everyone’s lips in 2025 and thus a 20 per cent discount is noteworthy. Team up with friends, head into a hostile zone to plunder its riches and battle AI enemies, then make it back out with the loot before another team of players finds you and takes your stuff.

F1 25: £34.99

You’re probably noticing a trend here, and it’s that Xbox Store discounts aren’t massive. But for the chance to recreate Lando’s heroics for yourself in a deep, RPG-like career and feel what ground effect era machinery’s like to drive, £35 sounds decent.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33: £33.39

It’s the game that cleaned up at this year’s Game Awards, and it could be on your hard drive for… slightly less than usual. A western RPG with JRPG influences dangling off its sleeve and a surprisingly involving story about a painting, Clair Obscur is one of the best games in recent memory to arrive without a massive franchise stapled to its premise.

Steam Store

The Crew Motorfest: £11.99

An arcade racing game that never seems to be out of ideas. Head to Hawaii, amass an absurd collection of cars, and then race them in chaotic 28-player Grand Race events where the vehicle category changes on the fly. One minute you’re drifting a hairpin in an RX-8, the next you’re hurtling along a six-lane highway in a hypercar. Heaven.

Rise of the Tomb Raider: £2.49

To celebrate the announcement of a new upcoming adventure for Lara and yet another remake of the first 1996 game, the whole Tomb Raider franchise is currently heavily discounted on Steam. Our pick of the bunch is 2016’s Rise of the Tomb Raider, a glossy triple-A take on the classic adventuring that’s available for the price of a disappointing supermarket coffee.

Kingdom Come Deliverance II: £24.99

We haven’t been to medieval Bohemia, and that means we can’t say for sure whether Kingdom Come Deliverance II’s recreation of it is spot on for accuracy. But we’ll say this much: we’d be surprised if it wasn’t. There’s so much joy to be had in this XL-sized RPG, from the surprising comedic double act of Henry and Sir Hans at the heart of the plot to the stunning historical detail in every corner of every room across the giant open world.

Red Dead Redemption II Ultimate Edition: £19.99

The bells and whistles version of Rockstar’s wild west compendium is still as endlessly playable and brimming with violent wonder as it ever was. Plus, Red Dead Online’s still going strong, so if you fancy getting some mates together in a multiplayer posse you won’t have to sell them on the idea like Jordan Belfort the same way you might at its regular £100 price.

Still Wakes the Deep & SOMA: £6.98

A bundle of uncommonly good, narrative-led horror games with aquatic settings. Still Wakes the Deep turns an oil rig off Scotland’s north coast into the scariest and most beautiful place you’ve been, while SOMA poses some uncomfortable questions about consciousness and mortality. Perfect with a mince pie and a glass of egg nog.