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Trump Tariffs Could Lead to Fewer Physical Disc Releases, Higher Retail and Digital Game Prices in the US, Says Analyst
The Trump tariffs on imports from Mexico could have a strong impact on the video games market in the United States and lead to fewer disc-based releases and higher prices for both physical and digital games, according to an analyst.
Speaking on Bluesky, Circana Executive Director and Video Game Industry Analyst Mat Piscatella highlighted how 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico could lead to a "sharp downtick" in the number of physical releases in the United States, as much of the production infrastructure is located in Mexico. If they do get made, prices could rise for both physical and digital games, as digital games' MSRPs would be increased to remain at price parity with physical releases. No matter what happens precisely, however, Mat Piscatella doesn't see anything good coming for the physical video game market in the near future.
The analyst remarks that moving the production of retail releases to the US to avoid being impacted by the Trump tariffs is definitely possible with significant investment. However, this significant investment is unlikely to come, as annual US physical video game software spending is half what it was in 2021 and is declining rapidly. At the same time, moving production to the US wouldn't help when it comes to cost, so there aren't a lot of incentives to move production to the United States.
No matter what is going to happen in the near future with the new Trump tariffs, it looks like a price increase for video games seems almost inevitable, and the whole industry seems to be pushing towards it, in one way or another. As highlighted in a new State of Video Gaming in 2025 presentation by CEO of Epyllion Matthew Ball, much of the video game industry is hoping that Grand Theft Auto 6 will be priced higher than the current $70 barrier and thus re-establish packaged game pricing after decades of deflation despite rampant cost growth.
Source: https://wccftech.com/trump-tariffs-higher-game-prices-us/
