Gaming's largest lobbying group says Trump's tariffs 'would negatively impact hundreds of millions of Americans' and do serious damage to the videogame industry

pcgamer.com:

The US government is set to launch a massive, sweeping trade war against Canada, Mexico, and China tomorrow (although Mexico earlier today was given a one-month reprieve), which has the potential to throw international economies into chaos, destabilize world security, and make videogames more expensive. In response, the Entertainment Software Association, the trade group representing videogame publishers in the US, has issued a statement saying the move is likely to do serious harm to the game industry and gamers alike.

«Videogames are one of the most popular and beloved forms of entertainment for Americans of all ages,» the ESA said. «Tariffs on videogame devices and related products would negatively impact hundreds of millions of Americans and would harm the industry’s significant contributions to the US economy. We look forward to working with the Administration and Congress to find ways to sustain the economic growth supported by our sector.»

Videogames themselves are largely distributed digitally these days, especially on PC, and so are mostly exempt from the tariffs. But videogame hardware—the PCs, consoles, and peripherals we use to actually play those games—is not, and the impact on prices could be significant. We said last week that if US president Donald Trump follows through on his threat to place tariffs possibly as high as 100% on chips coming from Taiwan, "an RTX 5090 for $2,000 will seem cheap" in the aftermath.

Even a lower rate, like the 25% planned tariffs on products originating from Canada and Mexico, would result in a serious bump. Trump said when he announced the proposed tariffs on incoming chips that manufacturers like Nvidia and AMD are «not gonna wanna pay a 25, 50 or even a 100% tax» on imported goods, but the reality is they won't: They'll just attach the increased costs to the product price and let consumers eat it.

And there is a lot of money on the table. The ESA said in January that «total videogame sales» hit $58.7 billion in 2024;