U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposed import tariffs could result in fewer physical media game releases and higher overall gaming software prices.
That’s the assessment of Mat Piscatella, executive director of video games at market research firm Circana in new postings on Bluesky.
Trump said this week his administration was reviewing existing trade deals with neighbors Canada and Mexico, as well as China.
He reportedly added he is considering imposing 25% duties on imports from Canada and Mexico on February 1st. If it goes forward, Piscatella wrote about the potential consequences:
“With 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico on the way, I can see a sharp downtick in the number of disc-based games that get released physically in the US, as much of that production infrastructure is in Mexico.”
Along with quickening the death of physical media, the analyst says he expects increased prices for both physical and digital titles:
“I would, were this to happen, anticipate digital MSRPs to increase to remain at price parity with physical, but who knows. In any case, none of this is good for the physical video game market.”
Couldn’t production just be moved to the US? He says: “With significant investment, sure.” However, annual US physical video game software spending is half what it was in 2021 and declining.
In addition, Piscatella says: “It wouldn’t help when it comes to costs… Not a good combo to incentivize that investment. IMO.”
The comments about tariffs and gaming physical media impact come before Circana releases a full 2025 outlook piece this week.
Source: VGC
