Amazon have announced that they will have their “Prime Day” event on July 12th. This is a full day of deals for Amazon Prime members, and will happen on amazon.com but also on all other amazon sites (amazon.jp, amazon.fr, amazon.co.uk,…etc).

Last year’s event was apparently huge for Amazon, but the question is: will there be good deals for gamers? Some people complained last year that many deals on Amazon’s Prime day in 2015 weren’t as good as the Black Friday ones. Looking back, Amazon actually had some discounts on a bunch of gamer-related items, including AAA titles for the PS4, XBO, PS3 and X360, console bundles (3DS, PS4, XBO), PC Hardware, and other electronics (tablets, etc…), but the good deals went very fast.

Video Game deals on prime day last year included discounts on Bloodborne, Destiny, Mortal Kombat X, FF X/X2 remastered, and others (partial list of 2015 Prime Day deals on gamerevolution). Console bundles were also discounted with extra games for free and other perks. So, yes, Amazon Prime day might be a good day for gamers, based on data from last year, but it’s hard to be sure. The best one can do is get ready to grab the deals in case they surface (see our checklist below).

Amazon stated they will have even more deals this year, with also deals starting from July 5th leading to the big day on July 12th. So if you’re looking for a deal related to video games, it might be the right time to hunt them down (And we’ll be sure to point out those deals on twitter).

How to get ready to snatch potential deals

What’s critical to remember is that last year, the good deals sold out within minutes. Even though many people claimed the deals weren’t so great, apparently others seized the opportunity. So if you’re thinking of getting a game for cheap or improving your gaming gear on 7/12, it’s essential that you get ready. The last thing you want is missing out on a deal because your Amazon account does not have a valid payment method or the right billing address!

So here’s what you need to do to get ready for Amazon prime day:

1. Get a Prime free trial if you’re not prime yet. It’s free for 30 days and you can cancel it afterwards. Don’t wait until the day of the event to become a Prime member, you’ll regret it if you miss a deal because of the extra time it takes to set up your account. Amazon Prime day is exclusive for Prime members so you will need this to get the deals. (And, yes, if you sign up for the free trial through my link, I get a small commission even though you have nothing to pay. So thanks if you do, it means a lot!)
   • Worst case scenario, no good deal shows up and you can cancel the auto renewal of your subscription to have it automatically stop after the 30 days free trial.
2. In your Amazon settings, make sure you have a valid shipping address and payment method. Reload your gift card balance ahead of time if that’s the payment method you plan to use.
3. Follow us on twitter. As much as possible we’ll mention deals on Amazon from July 5th to July 12th.
4. Check the Amazon deals page regularly, and use their “watch deal” feature, which will warn you when an upcoming deal goes live.
5. Beware of “not so great” deals. Just because there’s a deal on Amazon Prime day doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good one. My personal strategy will be: buy the deal anyway, then take a few minutes to compare prices with the competition. If the deal’s not worth it, I’ll cancel my purchase.

It’s still too early to know what Prime Day will bring to gamers, and if anything will be good, great, or just “meh”. Personally I’d love to see some discount on Uncharted 4 🙂