Amazon Has The Best  Xbox One Deal Ever [Updated]

Microsoft already discounted the cost of its Xbox One entertainment console by $50. Now, Amazon is joining Best Buy and Game Stop in offering $50 in credit to holiday shoppers, bringing the relative cost of the console down to an exceptionally affordable $299.

Amazon began offering both versions of the Xbox One it sells with $50 in credit today. There is no catch, no extra conditions that you have to meet to get in on the Xbox One deal in question. Even better, the $50 credit comes with the two Xbox One bundles that Microsoft introduced shortly before the holiday season: the Assassin’s Creed Unity Xbox One and the Assassin’s Creed Unity Xbox One + Kinect.

Both bundles offered big savings for users buying the console without this new Xbox One Deal already. They each come with two free games Assassin’s Creed Unity, which made its debut this November and retails for $60, and Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, which came out last year and retails for around $30 for the $33 at Amazon separately.

To be clear, Amazon says it’ll email the $50 in credit after the console shoppers order has shipped.

What makes it an even better deal is the nature of Amazon’s web store itself. Retail stores commonly hand out gift cards with purchases. Many do so knowing that their policies prohibit shoppers from taking that gift card and purchasing another gift card with it. Amazon credit can be used for anything the company offers, including the digital gift card store it offers for shoppers. Say a shopper wanted to use that $50 in credit to buy a digital game. At Amazon, they could purchase a prepaid code for credit in Xbox Live. Amazon also offers digital codes for Microsoft’s Xbox Live service. Xbox Live includes two free games a month and online multiplayer. Normally, a year of Xbox Live is $60.

Users taking advantage of this Xbox One deal are getting a decent discount compared to what everyone paid last year and even earlier in the season. There was originally only one Xbox One bundle priced at $499. That model included a Kinect 2 sensor for motion gaming and didn’t have any free games. In June Microsoft began selling the Xbox One without the Kinect 2 sensor for $399. It then rolled out a temporary price cut of $50 for the holidays and began throwing in a digital code for a hit game absolutely free.

Read: Xbox One Buying Guide

Every Xbox One includes a 500GB hard drive for storing games and media, a power cable, a single HDMI cable, chat headset, a wireless controller and batteries for that wireless controller. Microsoft also throws in a free trial to Xbox Live.

Amazon is currently offering free shipping on all Xbox One bundles. Standard shipping is about 5-8 days for Amazon, meaning that if you’re lucky enough you might be able to get the Xbox One bundle you order before Christmas. Unfortunately, it’s Friday afternoon, putting any Amazon shopper dangerously close to missing Christmas delivery. Shoppers can order expedited delivery for a bit extra and get the console on Monday. On average, one day shipping at Amazon is about $20. That rate depends on where the console is being shipped though.

Read: Xbox One Review 2014 — My Experience Gaming A Year Later

Whether this new Xbox One deal is enough to convince you to purchase an Xbox One instead of a PS4 this holiday season comes down to individual taste. That being said, the Xbox One is now a better deal than the PS4 hands-down. Last week, Sony revealed a free game deal for anyone purchasing a PS4 in the United States. Sony didn’t lower the price of the console though, meaning it still costs $399 just like it did at launch.

Update

Target has managed to even beat Amazon’s deal. The retailer is offering shoppers a $70 gift card with the purchase of the Xbox One until Sunday.