Trump's tariffs on goods made outside the US are affecting a lot of tech and gaming companies, which mostly manufacture in Asia, and it looks like Sony has taken a much bigger hit than Nintendo. What's more, the PlayStation company's plan to "minimize the impact on our business and earnings" has gamers worried the price of the PS5 and PS5 Pro could go up.
According to Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Japan game industry consultancy Kantan Games, Nintendo's stock is down 7.35% and Sony's is down 10.6%. Publishers Bandai Namco, Konami, Sega, Capcom, Square Enix, and Koei Tecmo are also all down today. He notes that "mobile game companies do even worse."
It's Monday 10am in Japan where Japanese game stocks currently react to these insultingly dumb tariffs like so:Nintendo -7.35%Sony -10.16%Bandai Namco -7.03%Konami -3.93%Sega -6.57%Koei Tecmo -5.83%Capcom -7.13%Square Enix -5.23%The mobile game companies do even worse.April 7, 2025
Before the tariffs were even implemented, Sony stated during an earnings announcement in February that it has been "working to duplicate our supply chains and increase their flexibility," as well as "stockpiling a certain level of strategic inventory in the US." This likely means the company shipped a large number of consoles and accessories to the States before the tariffs came into effect, but once that stock is gone, we could expect prices to rise, as even if it does fully manufacture in the US, that will be more costly than building the consoles in Asia.
Sony stated: "We intend to continue to respond flexibly and promptly to changing circumstances and implement at the appropriate time additional measures that we are preparing in order to minimize the impact on our business and earnings."
This last line has led people to believe that Sony could be willing to increase prices to offset any increased costs, and those price hikes will be paid for by us, the ones buying the systems.
"It is extremely important to note that they are prioritizing their business and their earnings, which means US consumers will be paying the additional price created by the tariffs," speculates one Twitter user. "Sony is not the only company that will do this. They all will. GGs"
"The customer will always end up being [on] the losing end," laments another.
Nintendo likely faced a lower stock price drop because Japan already accounts for 24% of Switch sales, a trend that will probably continue with the Switch 2 and its cheaper Japan-only model. But, that doesn't help everyone in the US who will be paying 50% more for the Switch 2 than they did for the original Switch, an increase which almost perfectly matches the tariffs imposed on Vietnam and Cambodia where the console is made.
For now, check out our list of the best free games you can play that will help you save some money.
