US tariffs squeeze game-industry finances, survey shows

A new industry survey paints a clear picture: trade measures enacted by the United States in 2025 are no longer a distant policy debate but an operational factor for many firms that make and sell games and hardware. Surveyed executives and finance professionals — a 200-person cross-section assembled by the GDC Festival of Gaming — reported that a substantial minority have adjusted budgets, revenue forecasts, or purchasing decisions in response to the tariffs. The effect is visible at scale: console manufacturers, peripheral makers and publishers signaled pricing moves and timeline shifts last year that align with the timing of the levies. High per-unit duties on goods sourced from certain countries have prompted both conversation and action about relocating elements of production, or at least hedging exposure to specific supply chains. For major platform holders the arithmetic is straightforward: tariffs raise landed costs, which forces choices between absorbing margins, passing costs to consumers, or altering sourcing. Those choices have already translated into public price increases, postponed product rollouts, and explicit contingency planning on manufacturing footprints. Smaller developers and hardware suppliers report pressure on component sourcing and logistics, tightening budgets for manufacturing runs and promotional spend. While nearly four in ten respondents indicated a tangible effect, nearly as many said they saw no change and a sizable minority remained uncertain — underscoring uneven exposure across company size, product mix, and geographic reach. The survey’s numbers do not quantify longer-term competitiveness impacts, but they do flag near-term trade friction as a material line-item in planning spreadsheets. For executives, the policy has become a variable to manage alongside development timelines, inventory strategies, and customer pricing. The immediate takeaway is pragmatic: companies must translate tariff math into operational decisions now, and the ripple effects will shape product availability and margin structures into the next fiscal year.