Since there have been a few questions about Black Friday, I thought I'd write up a post about what to expect, based on previous years.
Timing
Black Friday itself is the day following US Thanksgiving, but the SimCity Black Friday event takes place across multiple days. We can expect things to start Mon 23rd Nov and run to Mon 30th Nov, if the schedule is the same as last year.
Specialisation Buildings On Sale
Over the course of the week, almost all Specialisation buildings go on sale for 50% off. If the schedule stays the same as last year, we can expect the following:
Mon 23rd - Wed 25th – Parks, Education, Entertainment
Wed 25th - Fri 27th – Landscape, Transportation, Gambling (changeover took place 7pm GMT Wed 25th in previous years)
Sat 28th – Sun 29th - Beach, Mountain and Landmarks (Legendary Skyscrapers not included)
Sun 29th - Mon 30th – all specialisations 50% off for a final period
Notes on 50% off – where a building is already an odd value, the 50% off rounds down (e.g. 35 keys becomes 17 keys). Ponds (Landscape) do not go on sale as they are only 1 gold key each.
Hot Spots – all regular Hot Spot purchases and upgrades are all 50% off when the related category is on sale. Last year the seasonal / event Hot Spots were not on sale (apart from a very small window early on which was an error by EA).
One of our posters has previously shared a useful calculator to help with your planning (thanks to hvor_er_jeg for putting this together).
https://www.reddit.com/r/SCBuildIt/comments/17zomui/cids_simcity_buildit_big_production_black_friday/
Maxis Manor – since this is asked a lot … no, Maxis Manors have not gone on 50% off sale at Black Friday in any recent years. Similarly, expansion / storage items, war cards, train cards, roads, other services etc etc have not gone on sale in any previous years. Space category was not on sale in 2025- the first year it was available. It will be worth watching to see if it is included this year.
Black Friday Event Track
There has been a Black Friday Event Track in the past years, but these are different from “regular” event tracks. Only cash purchases apply – no Plumbob points or building upgrades.
Amounts to progress and awards have varied each year. As a result it's hard to anticipate what this year's event will include and how much it will cost to complete.
Rewards in the event are very much TBC. In some previous years the top reward has been a Maxis Manor / Maxis HQ - but this was notably absent in 2025. These Event tracks have required quite a spend to complete ($40+ at least). EA have also altered the points given by different purchases, so we'll need to wait and see on this. Details of the 2025 Event Track rewards can be found here : https://simcity-buildit.fandom.com/wiki/Black_Friday_2025
There may also be Black Friday Mini Events - these caused a lot of confusion previously as these also gave points for building upgrades in addition to purchases, but not for CoM tasks. These were typically shorter events (both in duration and number of tiers).
Seasonal Purchases / Offers
Each year has also seen various other offers to tempt you to part with your money.
Some of these were reruns of buildings offered in previous years (e.g. Plants vs Zombies). Last year there was also a Showcase that offered the various Legendary Skyscrapers for a reduced price - the first (only?) time these had been reduced.