The Best Gifts for Every Type of Gamer

Sep 16, 2026 09:00 PM - 1 hour ago 2
Stephen Johnson is simply a elder unit writer astatine Lifehacker covering popular civilization and technology, including the columns “The Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture” and “What People Are Getting Wrong This Week.”

Buying a gift for a gamer is simply a minefield, arsenic gamers are notoriously picky astir their set-ups and their interests. If your giftee is into Stardew Valley, they're going to move their chemoreceptor up astatine a force feedback racing wheel, nary matter really realistic it makes driving sims; if they're into Valorant, they astir apt don't want a squishy pastel cat-paw spot cushion for their gaming chair.

The instrumentality is matching the cogwheel to the gamer. To thief you sidestep that forced "Um...thanks?" response, I've surgery down the champion gifts by subordinate personality, and besides included 1 gift you should not, nether immoderate circumstances, springiness immoderate gamer this Christmas.

The champion wide gift for gamers: Steam Deck

The Steam Deck is the Swiss Army Knife of gaming—a azygous instrumentality that will please portable gamers, PC gamers, and console gamers alike. It's a PC successful a slip-it-in-a-backpack shape facet that tin beryllium taken anyplace aliases plugged successful to play connected your TV. Handheld gamers will for illustration the portability and the touchscreen display. The elemental UI and XBox games will make console gamers happy. PC fans tin usage it to play their backlog of Steam Games while sitting connected the sofa aliases riding a bus. They tin moreover swipe the full thrust and usage it arsenic a PC if they turn retired of playing video games (like that will happen). You tin bargain the Steam Deck exclusively connected Valve's website.

The champion gift for a hardcore gamer: Razer Huntsman Elite

Hardcore gamers want to beryllium amended astatine gaming. This keyboard could thief by providing a millisecond's advantage. Instead of mechanical switches, the Razer Huntsman uses analog optical switches to registry cardinal presses. Gamers tin fine-tune really difficult they person to property a cardinal to get it to register, and the accelerated trigger characteristic resets the keys the very instant a personification lifts their finger. That intends faster firing, and faster firing tin beryllium the quality betwixt a respectable kill/death ratio and a rage quit.

Razer Huntsman Elite Gaming Keyboard
$199.90 at Amazon
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Razer Huntsman Elite
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$199.90 at Amazon

The champion gift for the portable gamer: Backbone One (2nd Gen)

The Backbone One snaps onto almost immoderate Android aliases iPhone and turns it into a handheld console truthful you tin play mobile games, aliases watercourse your XBox aliases PlayStation games from the Cloud. It not only fits complete astir iPhones and Android phones, it fits over most telephone cases, truthful you won't person to portion your telephone down to jump into a game. Just make judge you get the correct one: They travel successful Xbox and Playstation 5 varities.

Backbone One Mobile Gaming Controller
$79.99 at Amazon
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BACKBONE One Mobile Gaming Controller, USB-C, 2nd Gen | For Android & iPhone 15/16/17, 2nd Gen, Play Xbox, Fortnite, Call of Duty, & More
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$79.99 at Amazon

The champion gift for the cozy casual gamer: The Ferghana Velvet cloth gaming chair

Some gamers are looking for the other of the adrenaline unreserved of heated PvP—they move to gaming for comfortableness alternatively of action. If that's the personification connected your gift list, see this velvet gaming chair. It offers each the ergonomic goodness (lumbar pillows, precocious back, footrest) of a accepted gaming chair, but it's upholstered successful a soft velvet alternatively of that tatty faux-leather.

Ferghana Velvet Gaming Chair
$90.24 at Amazon
$94.99 Save $4.75
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Ferghana Velvet Fabric Gaming Chair, High Back Ergonomic Gamer Chair for Adult, Comfortable Video Game Chair pinch Footrest and Massage Lumbar Cushion, Racing Reclining Office Computer Desk Chair Green
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$90.24 at Amazon
$94.99 Save $4.75

The champion gift for the console gamer: a 2TB retention description drive

Gaming is fun; managing retention abstraction is not. It's a changeless headache for some Xbox Series X owners and PlayStation 5 gamers. Huge crippled files eat up some consoles' comparatively mini difficult drives, forcing gamers to delete aged games each clip they instal thing new. But a nice, large 2TB drive, for illustration the WD_BLACK SN850P for PS5 aliases the Sandisk 2TB Optimus GX C50 Storage Expansion Card for Xbox, solves the problem, truthful why not springiness the gift of breathing room? Be judge you get the correct thrust for the console they play, and personally, I wouldn't skimp and get them the smaller sizes. They want arsenic overmuch retention arsenic possible, I promise.

What do you deliberation truthful far?
WD Black SN7100 2TB M.2 NVMe Gen4 Solid-State Drive
$199.25 at Amazon
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WD Black SN7100 2TB M.2 NVMe Gen4 Solid-State Drive
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Sandisk 2TB Optimus GX C50 Storage Expansion Card for Xbox
$479.99 at Amazon
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Sandisk 2TB Optimus GX C50 Storage Expansion Card for Xbox
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Best gift for the streamer: Elgato Stream Deck MK.2

If your giftee is simply a streamer aliases aspiring streamer, the Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 is simply a must-have. This stand-alone power pad features 15 programmable LCD keys that tin beryllium programmed to move camera angles, shut up a microphone, play sound effects, power the lights, and do conscionable astir thing other pinch a azygous keystroke.

Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 Studio Controller (Black)
$129.99 at Amazon
$149.99 Save $20.00
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Elgato Stream Deck MK.2 Studio Controller (Black)
Shop Now
$129.99 at Amazon
$149.99 Save $20.00

Honorable mention: A DoorDash aliases UberEats gift card

If nary of the supra gift ideas quite work, see a gift certificate from DoorDash aliases UberEats. No matter what benignant of games you play, erstwhile you're locked successful a dense gaming session, the past point you want to do is extremity to make dinner.

The 1 gift not to get for a gamer (unless they inquire for it): Grand Theft Auto 6

The merchandise of Grand Theft Auto 6 is 1 of the biggest gaming-focused events successful decades, but please don't springiness the gamer successful your life GTA 6 for Christmas. Making personification hold 1 time beyond the Nov. 19 merchandise day to play it is simply cruel. Have a heart, and springiness it to them early.

Grand Theft Auto VI - PlayStation 5 (Code successful Box)
$79.99 at Amazon
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Grand Theft Auto VI - PlayStation 5 (Code successful Box)
Shop Now
$79.99 at Amazon

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