[GameSpot] - When Is Amazon Prime Day 2022? And What To Expect

[343iBot]

Following two abnormal years for Amazon Prime Day, the annual sales event is returning to its July roots. Amazon confirmed in late April that Prime Day 2022 will kick off sometime in July, but unsurprisingly the retailer hasn't provided an exact date for the sales bonanza. That said, we have a pretty good guess as to when Prime Day 2022 will run--as well as the length of the sale and the types of deals to expect.

When is Prime Day 2022?

With Prime Day 2022 confirmed for July, it's highly likely that the sales event will start on one of two dates: July 11 or July 18. Prime Day has always kicked off on Monday, and we have no reason to believe that will change this year. Prior to the disruption to Prime Day in 2020, the sales event had always run in mid July. We can easily nix the possibility of Prime Day starting on the July 4 holiday, and a July 25 start date would be uncharacteristically late in the season for Amazon.

That leaves us with July 11 or July 18. Prime Day has been a two-day, 48-hour event since 2017. We expect that to remain the case this year. As such, Prime Day 2022 will in all likelihood take place July 11-12 or July 18-19.

Amazon tends to keep its sales events under wraps until just a couple of weeks (or less) before the start date. We might not get a definitive date for Prime Day until the end of the month or possibly even early July.

What is Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day 2022

If you haven't experienced the annual sales bonanza, Amazon Prime Day is essentially a condensed Black Friday sale. Outside of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Prime Day has become the biggest sales event of the year. And it's not just Amazon with great deals--major retailers will jump in on the fun with anti-Prime Day sales. Often times, these sales at competing retailers kick off the weekend prior to Prime Day to try and steal Amazon's thunder.

The deals at Amazon are exclusive to Prime members, while competing retailers tend to offer deals to anyone. That said, with an increased emphasis on Walmart+, PowerUp Rewards Pro, Totaltech Unlocked, and other subscription services at competing retailers, it's certainly possible that some of the hottest deals--including any PS5 restocks--will be limited to members at competing retailers, too.

All told, you can expect thousands upon thousands of deals at Amazon and other major retailers that week. From gaming and tech to entertainment and toys, just about every category of product you can think of will be on sale.

What deals do we expect on Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day is not super predictable when it comes to the actual products that will be on sale. The exception here is Amazon brand devices such as the Echo Show, Kindle, Echo Dot, and Fire TVs. Amazon brand devices are always on sale for their best prices of the year during Prime Day. So if you're in the market for a smart home device or Kindle, your best bet is to wait for Prime Day.

While we cannot definitively say which gaming products will be on sale, there will definitely be some stellar deals on Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X games. Prime Day gaming deals often focus on AAA games that released within the past year, so you can expect to see some 2021 holiday hits as well as titles that launched earlier this year.

In addition to games, Prime Day always offers a great opportunity to purchase gaming-related tech such as controllers, headsets, and gaming laptops/PCs. And, much like Black Friday, some of the best Prime Day deals are often found on 4K TVs, including budget options and high-end TVs that are great for gaming.

Will there be console restocks during Prime Day?

We wouldn't be surprised to see PS5 restocks during Prime Day.

When it comes to consoles, it'll be interesting to see if PS5 restocks occur during Prime Day. Sony recently released a PS5 bundle that includes Horizon Forbidden West, which seems like a prime (sorry) candidate for an enticing Prime Day drop at Amazon and other retailers.

On the other hand, we wouldn't be surprised at all to see actual deals on the Xbox Series X|S. We've seen quite a few Xbox Series S deals recently, including a bundle at Walmart that contains the Series S and Halo Infinite for $300 (it's still available!).

Meanwhile, Nintendo Switch console deals are rare, so we wouldn't expect to see discounts--at least not on the Switch OLED. Bundles featuring the regular Switch or Switch Lite are a possibility, though.

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