53% of Gamers Rank Black Friday as the Best Value Event of the Year, Reveals New G2A.COM Survey

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New G2A.COM findings reveal 64% delay purchases of newly released games or in-game content to take advantage of Black Friday discounts

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS, November 12, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- G2A.COM, the world’s largest marketplace for digital entertainment, has polled just over 2,000 of its users to investigate whether Black Friday still plays a crucial role in the annual purchasing journey. The findings reveal that, beyond the appeal of discounts, players are making increasingly deliberate purchasing decisions, tracking prices and postponing purchases in anticipation of Black Friday. This follows a recent report by Newzoo and G2A.COM, titled 'Game purchasing behavior in an era of choice', which provided a detailed examination of how gamers are dealing with higher prices, their attitudes toward discounts, and the growing number of ways to buy games.

Key Findings:

• Gamers Plan Their Purchases Around Black Friday: Over half of those surveyed (53%) identify Black Friday and Cyber Monday as offering the best value for game purchases, significantly outpacing routine seasonal storefront sales (7%) and publisher-specific sales (2%).

• Waiting for Black Friday Influences Purchasing Decisions: 64% of respondents have delayed buying games or in-game content released between September and November to wait for Black Friday discounts, including 38.6% who do so frequently and 25.5% occasionally. Meanwhile, 19% said they buy games immediately if they want them at launch. When it comes to planning ahead, 17% typically hold off on purchases for one to two weeks, another 17% for around a month, and 22% for two months or longer.

• Full Games Drive Purchase Plans: When asked which products they wait until Black Friday to purchase, 87% of respondents selected full games, followed by expansions and DLC (36%), subscriptions (26%), and in-game currency (18%).

• Tracking Prices with Wishlists and Marketplaces: Store wishlist notifications (e.g., Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox) emerged as the primary tool for deal discovery, with 55% of respondents relying on them. Digital marketplaces like G2A.COM are the second-most-popular channel at 47%, beating dedicated price-tracking sites (29%).

G2A.COM’s transactional data reinforces the commercial importance of this shopping period. During Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025, total orders in the marketplace increased by 33% year-on-year, while video game orders surged by 87%, significantly outpacing overall growth.

G2A.COM’s survey findings reveal that, despite a growing trend of delayed purchases and consumer skepticism, Black Friday remains the peak value event for gamers. This data corroborates with the recent Newzoo report, which found that 73% of gamers feel AAA games are overpriced at launch and, on average, wait 4.9 months for a sale or discount. Together, the studies highlight how price awareness and patience increasingly influence purchasing decisions, with Black Friday proving a key opportunity for gamers to act on their plans.

"Black Friday is no longer just about impulse purchases. It has become a planned part of how gamers manage their entertainment budgets," said Paweł Wróbel, Chief Growth Officer at G2A.COM. "Players are increasingly willing to wait, track prices and prioritise the games they want most. Our findings show that getting the best value is becoming just as important as getting a game at launch."

The survey further reveals that 39% of respondents plan to spend more on gaming this Black Friday than last year, while 41% expect to spend roughly the same amount. These findings underline Black Friday’s continued importance as a major shopping period for gamers, increasingly shaped by preparation, informed decisions and the search for value.

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Press Kit (with charts): https://bit.ly/4sPKHMg
Press Contact: communications@g2a.com

Notes to Editors
The survey was conducted among G2A.COM users between October 20 – November 3 2026. A total of 2,038 users responded to the opening question. The number of responses varied by question, with individual bases ranging from 655 to 2,038. Questions concerning tools used to track gaming deals and offers consumers wait until Black Friday to purchase allowed respondents to select multiple answers, meaning percentages for these categories do not add up to 100%.

About G2A.COM
G2A.COM is the world's largest marketplace for digital entertainment, serving over 35 million users from 180 countries with more than 200 million visits in 2025. As a true gateway to digital entertainment and a rapidly evolving digital ecosystem, G2A.COM gives access to over 125,000 digital offerings, including vouchers, games, DLCs, in-game items, and non-gaming items such as gift cards, subscriptions, software, or e-learning, sold by sellers from all over the world. A compliance-driven organization audited by Deloitte for over a decade, G2A.COM is a leader in online security, recognized by the prestigious American CNP Award alongside industry giants like Microsoft and PayPal. Today, the company is a key gateway for recognized global brands, leveraging its scalable infrastructure to drive the next phase of e-commerce through agentic AI and global M&A - continuously expanding its role as the Gate 2 Adventure in the digital world.

Communications Team
G2A Group
communications@g2a.com
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