[Talking Tariffs] Higher Prices Could Take the Fun Out of Games

Your Ticket to Ride could cost a lot more soon.

Tariffs pushed by President Donald Trump – especially those against China and Canada – are expected to prompt steep cost increases for (among other things) board games and comic books.

“It will take time for the effects of the tariffs to be fully realized at the retail level, but I would expect to see (manufacturer’s suggested retail price) increase on many major game lines, including board games, collectible cards, accessories such as sleeves and dice,” said Jennifer Bedell, owner of South Durham’s Atomic Empire on Westgate Drive.

“Many, many board games and game components are manufactured in China, and a lot of comic books and other printing is based in Canada,” Bedell said. “America lacks the manufacturing facilities needed to produce these goods, so it’s not as simple as publishers relocating their existing contracts to facilities in the U.S.: they will simply have to pay more to import the goods from abroad, and those costs will be passed on to distributors, retailers, and eventually, consumers.”

Guildhall Games, a store at Boxyard RTP that focuses on neurodivergent, disabled, and LGBTQ+ communities, is similarly concerned about tariff impacts.

“We have tried to stay as publicly apolitical as a disability and queer-focused store can be, but the latest Trump tariffs are an existential crisis for the entire game industry,” wrote co-owner Jake Guild in a Facebook post. “The 54% tariffs on China will either be passed on to consumers or eaten by the publishers and distributors, which means games are about to get a LOT more expensive.”

The game industry comes with small profit margins, Bedell noted, meaning that “costs are certain to be passed on to U.S. consumers who are already feeling the strain of increased living expenses in the form of high grocery prices and rising housing costs.”

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The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) issued a statement to members on April 3, describing tariffs as taxes on consumers rather than the countries where the games are made.

“Nearly a third of all U.S. consumer goods – including clothes, food products, appliances, cars, and entertainment items like games – are imported,” the statement reads. “This means higher prices across the board as all these products will need to increase prices to compensate for these new Trump taxes.”

In the short term, prices may not change much as products already in store inventories in the United States remain available. But if the tariffs aren’t rolled back, retailers can expect the extra import costs to be baked in with new orders.

“This is putting small publishers (especially those in the midst of Kickstarter production cycles) in a particularly bad place, where they may have promised new products at a certain price to backers and pre-order customers, and are now faced with a steep increase in costs during fulfillment,” Bedell said. “In some cases, this may result in products being canceled as infeasible at the original price, or in additional shipping charges being billed to customers in order to cover costs.”