Microsoft is preparing a large "Deals Unlocked" sale on over 500 Xbox and PC games from June 11 through June 17, offering a minimum discount of 55% percent, and sometimes substantially more. The company is likewise promoting discounts on third-party accessories and some fully-built gaming PCs.
The event is presumably Microsoft's answer to Sony's recent Days of Play and Valve's upcoming summer Steam sale, which should run from June 24 through July 8. Seasonal sales are of course common on game storefronts as a way of boosting quarterly numbers - but Microsoft's schedule also coincides with E3 2021, when it's expected to show off a raft of games ranging from Halo Infinite to Bethesda titles like Starfield. The tactic should both create and take advantage of related publicity.
Some of the games on sale, according to Microsoft, will include Gears of War 5, Doom Eternal, Dirt 5, Destiny 2's Beyond Light expansion, and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Gold Edition. Discounts will rise to 60% for some PC titles like Forza Horizon 4 Ultimate Edition, and as much as 75% for "select" games by first-party studios. While the company is trying to steer buyers towards its own shops, unspecified third-party retailers will be offering sales as well. A full list of the planned game discounts isn't yet available either.
Accessory discounts will be 25% or less on a relatively small range of products, such as Western Digital's WD_Black P10 Xbox expansion drives, Razer's Ripsaw HD capture card, and a handful of headsets by HyperX and Turtle Beach. PC builders participating in the event include ASUS and Lenovo, and configurations as cheap as $699 - though realistically, a good gaming PC tends to cost $1,200-1,500 or more. Prices have been exacerbated in recent months by video card prices, which have shot through the roof due to supply chain issues and demand by cryptocurrency miners, who will often snag cards the moment new stock is available.
E3 2021 begins June 12. It's possible that Microsoft is withholding some sales news until then - for instance, Valve is rumored to be joining the event for the first time for a "special announcement," one possibility being that Steam for the PC will get Xbox Game Pass titles, and that a version of Steam will hit the Xbox Series X/S. The only obstacles are software support and business deals, since the Series X and S are already built on PC-style architecture. Steam is the dominant PC gaming storefront - eclipsing both Microsoft and Epic Games, even though it depends on Microsoft Windows.
Source: Microsoft