Checking out Black Friday gaming deals? These are the VPNs you need to secure your lobbies

If you plan on combing through the Steam store – or other reputable online marketplaces – for AAA titles or nostalgic favorites, you’ll be glad to learn there is a way to save even more money. How? Well, with one of today’s best VPNs, of course.

VPNs are handy software that spoofs your location and tricks the sites you visit into thinking you’re somewhere else in the world. As a result, you can check out region-specific deals to find the biggest and best savings and have more money to spend on DLC and content packs afterward. Better yet, the Black Friday VPN sales are in full swing. Keep reading, and I’ll walk you through the best bargains.

How can a VPN help?

While plenty of folks will be hitting the stores in person today (and over the rest of the Black Friday weekend), there’s plenty of bargain-hunting to be done online from the comfort of your gaming chair. The issue here, however, is that sites can use geo-restrictions to serve up different prices in different regions.

It might sound unfair – and it somewhat is. After all, folks in some parts of the world ultimately end up paying more for the same game and content. It’s the same premise that limits certain shows and movies to specific Netflix libraries, based on location.

A VPN’s geo-spoofing power makes short work of these restrictions, however, and you can even use them to turn the tide in your favor by shopping around for the best gaming sales. Generally, I’ve found that prices tend to be cheaper in the Brazil, Argentina, and Turkey markets – but it’s worth doing some digital globe-hopping, too.

Step-by-step guide

The how of this process might seem complicated at first, but let’s break it down into pieces:

1. First things first, you’ll need to pick a VPN and download the app for your platform of choice. This is usually quick and easy – just follow along with the on-screen instructions like you would with any other app.
2. Once you’ve logged in, connect to a VPN server overseas, wait a moment, and you’re ready to scour the sales. Your VPN has assigned you a shiny new IP address based in the same location as the server you chose – and that’s what the sites you visit will see, too.
3. Now for the fun part. If you’re hunting for a specific game, DLC, or piece of gaming kit, it’s worth opening up the outlets it’s listed on and refreshing the pages when you connect to a new VPN server, to see if the prices differ massively. If you’re just browsing, hoping to spot an unmissable bargain, be sure to check out those region-specific sites, too!

If you’re spoofing your location to check out the Black Friday sales, bear in mind that some outlets and sites require you to use a payment method that has been verified in the same country.

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