How Will The New Tariffs Affect TTRPG Prices?

New US tariffs have hit the world, and the tabletop gaming industry is bracing for impact. Every company (including us) will be doing a thorough analysis of how the recent US tariffs will affect their business, and then plan accordingly.

Of the raft of global tariffs on US imports declared yesterday, two in particular affect the tabletop gaming industry--the tariffs on the EU and on China.

The new tariff on goods manufactured in the EU is 20%, while those which originate in China are 34%. This is in addition to a recent 20% tariff on China, raising that level to 54%.

The tariff applies to the place of origin of a product, not the country where the company is registered. Many game companies in Europe, the UK, and Scandinavia print books in the EU; and more complex products which require boxes or other components, including those from game companies in the US, often come from China. The tariff on UK-produced products is 10%, but most UK-based companies print in the EU and China.

There is something called the 'de minimis threshold', and generally shipments below that value do not incur tariffs. In the US that is currently $800, and it mainly affects individual orders bought from overseas. However, that no longer applies to goods made in China. It also won't help with shipments of inventory (such as a print run) shipped to a US warehouse from the EU. When somebody in the US orders a book from, say, a UK game company, that order will often be fulfilled from inventory stored in a US warehouse rather than shipped directly from the UK. That US inventory will have incurred the tariff when it was shipped as part of a larger shipment.

A shipment of our books from our printer in the EU​

Of course, these aren't the only way that tariffs can affect prices. Even products manufactured in the US might use materials or components from China, Canada, or the EU, and that will affect the production cost of those products. For example, a US printer which uses paper sources in Canada is going to have increased costs. DriveThruRPG's print-on-demand costs have already increased by as much as 50% in the US.

How might game companies go about handling these increased costs?

• Eat the tariff themselves. That might be possible in some instances, but the size of them will likely make that non-feasible. Most game products do not have a 54% profit margin.​
• Manufacture in the US. That solution might be feasible but runs into a couple of barriers. (1) US printing costs tend to be higher; (2) goods would then have to be exported to the EU, Canada, and other countries, which may have reciprocal tariffs in place; (3) US printing capacity isn't up to the task (remember printers don't just print games--we're talking books); (4) US non-book game component manufacture capacity is even more difficult; (5) splitting a print run between a US and EU or Chinese printer greatly reduces the per-unit manufacture cost as the volume at each location will be halved; (6) as the recent DTRPG printing cost increase shows, even US printers use raw materials from elsewhere.​
• Pass the cost along to customers. This, unfortunately, is probably going to be the most feasible result. This means that the price of games will be going up.​

It gets really difficult when the production/shipping process straddles the tariff. We at EN Publishing have four Kickstarters fulfilling (Voidrunner's Codex, Gate Pass Gazette Annual 2024, Monstrous Menagerie II, and Split the Hoard) which have been paid for, including shipping, by the customer already. Two of those (Voidrunner and Split the Hoard) involve boxes and components, which meant they were manufactured in China. The other two are printed in the EU (Lithuania, specifically). All four inventory shipments will arrive in the US after the tariffs come in. We haven't yet worked out exactly what that means, but it won't be pleasant.

I suspect in the future, in these days of sudden tariffs, companies will hold back on charging for shipping right up until the last minute. And that's also bad news for customers, as they won't know the shipping price of a game until it's about to ship. This might also mean a shift towards digital sales which--currently--are not affected.

Most game companies are likely crunching numbers and planning right now. It is not known how long the tariffs will be in effect for, or what retaliatory tariffs countries will put in place against US goods. But this is a global issue which is going to drastically affect the tabletop gaming industry (along with most every other industry, but this is a TTRPG news site!)

Steve Jackson Games posted about the tariffs (the site seems to be experiencing high traffic at the time of writing)--

Some people ask, "Why not manufacture in the U.S.?" I wish we could. But the infrastructure to support full-scale boardgame production – specialty dice making, die-cutting, custom plastic and wood components – doesn't meaningfully exist here yet. I've gotten quotes. I've talked to factories. Even when the willingness is there, the equipment, labor, and timelines simply aren't.

We aren't the only company facing this challenge. The entire board game industry is having very difficult conversations right now. For some, this might mean simplifying products or delaying launches. For others, it might mean walking away from titles that are no longer economically viable. And, for what I fear will be too many, it means closing down entirely.

Note: please keep discussion to the effect of tariffs on the game industry. This forum isn't the place to discuss international politics.

 

[Morrus]

It's not wrong-headed though. When MSRP goes up, everybody involved wants to increase their markup in terms of dollar value, and they claim this is just how their pricing "works". "We always do it this way; this is how our business works".

So the price effect ends up much LARGER than the actual tariff. Quite a bit larger, if past practice is any guide of future price increases.

This is the way the game business currently works. And no customer likes it, or should.

And yes, customers will absolutely take their displeasure out on games producers, wholesalers, and retailers. And they should, too.

That is not “how the game business currently works”.

 

[payn]

Might need another thread for this, but I know miniatures, and home-printed ones are not very good - not by the standards of serious miniatures enthusiasts like me. The cheaper ones are poor quality, with bad resolution and visible print lines, and they are hard to paint. High quality ones (in terms of resolution) are resin, and those can look quite good (I have a fair amount of 3d printed resin terrain), but are fragile and, apparently, much more onerous to make at home (mine are commercially produced). So there are significant trade-offs. Reaper is shifting some of its production to printed miniatures using siocast plastic (which comes from Spain), and these are both much more expensive and have had mixed reviews thus far (I have some; they required extensive cleaning at home, and I haven't painted them yet so I am not yet sure about the resolution; they look pretty good but there does appear to be some fuzziness, which is a perennial problem with printed miniatures).

In my very considerable experience with miniatures, the best deals in plastic miniatures have come from Kickstarters, where you can get excellent quality (in terms of both resolution and durability), moulded miniatures at better prices than anywhere else.

However, miniatures-oriented Kickstarters mostly do their manufacturing in China (but huge shout-out to Dungeons and Lasers, who are currently running a Kickstarter that I am backing, and do all their work in their home country of Poland). And given that home printers and supplies will get much more expensive with tariffs, whatever price edge home printed miniatures have is also now up in the air.

I don't see any way around tariffs making this aspect of gaming much more expensive for everyone, whatever your preferred solution.

I know during Bones I Reaper made way more than they expected. Enough that they said they were gonna buy their own machine for Texas. Do you know if that ever came about?

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I know during Bones I Reaper made way more than they expected. Enough that they said they were gonna buy their own machine for Texas. Do you know if that ever came about?

Last I'd heard, Reaper does some Bones casting themselves, but they lack the capacity to fulfill the big KS projects in-house and rely on Chinese sources for that. That may have changed in the last three years or so, that's the last time I paid much attention to what was going one with them. They've also been doing contract casting for other companies for years, which might see a spike in demand as people look for US sources.

Might need another thread for this, but I know miniatures, and home-printed ones are not very good - not by the standards of serious miniatures enthusiasts like me.

Perhaps we are wandering afield from RPGs a bit, so I'll leave this with one final set of responses. If you care to start a thread elsewhere it might be worth pursuing further, but this is probably the wrong site for it in terms of reader base.

The cheaper ones are poor quality, with bad resolution and visible print lines, and they are hard to paint. High quality ones (in terms of resolution) are resin, and those can look quite good (I have a fair amount of 3d printed resin terrain), but are fragile and, apparently, much more onerous to make at home (mine are commercially produced).

Certainly, but your standards (and mine, to a lesser degree) aren't for everyone. A lot of gamers just want inexpensive figs to put on the table so they can play, and a big chunk of the STL market is aimed at catering to them. Odds are many of those figs will never see a lick of paint (which isn't my thing, but it works for many people) but they also aren't costing (say) GW prices so there's less motivation to invest more time and effort into finishing them.

Cheap printing is also a perfectly serviceably way to do meeples and similar low-def tokens, and I could see some board game publishers experimenting with offering free STL files with a no-frills game for those who want to print something slightly fancier. Sort of the same approach the early Kill Doctor Lucky printings used.

Printing in resin will get you much better detail, but as you said they're trickier to do yourself and have with the same durability issues as cast resins always have. Maybe worse even, since part of the reason to print them in the first place is to create shapes that even a complex traditional mold can't manage.

Reaper is shifting some of its production to printed miniatures using siocast plastic (which comes from Spain), and these are both much more expensive and have had mixed reviews thus far (I have some; they required extensive cleaning at home, and I haven't painted them yet so I am not yet sure about the resolution; they look pretty good but there does appear to be some fuzziness, which is a perennial problem with printed miniatures).

I remain unconvinced by Siocast myself, but at the same time the early "white Bones" material was pretty dire too and they've improved materials steadily at the cost of higher prices for better material. And even white Bones has suitable subjects - if it's a big, fairly smooth shape without much fine surface detailing you might as well pay less for the thing.

In my very considerable experience with miniatures (40+ years as a considerable enthusiast, collector and painter, metal and plastic)

I go back closer to 50, but I'll admit I was a dabbler for the first decade or so when I started working for a resin casting company. Never was much of a collector, I was a paint-and-sell for the next few projects guy up until I lost an eye and most of my painting ability.

the best deals in plastic miniatures have come from Kickstarters, where you can get excellent quality (in terms of both resolution and durability), moulded miniatures at better prices than anywhere else.

Sure, but those deals are temporary and tied to FOMO. They often retain good-to-excellent value post-crowdfunding (Wargames Atlantic springs to mind, as do the "Nickstarter" stuff from Brigade), but it's still a narrow window for the very best pricing - and the risk of crowdfunded fulfillment, of course. I've been burned by enough of that that I don't take those chances any more.

Nice to see that some folks still understand the merits of really good modular plastics even as other companies (eg GW) drift away from the concept, though.

However, miniatures-oriented Kickstarters mostly do their manufacturing in China (but huge shout-out to Dungeons and Lasers, who are currently running a Kickstarter that I am backing, and do all their work in their home country of Poland).

Yeah, D&L are doing a good job all around. They'll certainly wind up in a better position than many companies with this mess - at least assuming no other random chaos intrudes, like a sudden invasion from one of their neighbors. Fingers crossed against that.

I don't see any way around tariffs making this aspect of gaming much more expensive for everyone, whatever your preferred solution. I think the consensus among miniatures enthusiasts is pretty much a universal "we're screwed, unless things change."

Yeah, absolutely. I expect to lose a lot of smaller casters and distribution (what there is of it) is going be a mess going forward. Some companies will be hit harder than others simply because of where they are, where their main market is, and their production techniques, but that's true of pretty much every business in the world now.

At least we got to live through what was arguably the Golden Age of Miniatures, and if we're lucky we might see what arises from the ashes. The minis hobby will survive in some form - just like roleplaying can't be killed outright.

 

[Clint_L]

At least we got to live through what was arguably the Golden Age of Miniatures, and if we're lucky we might see what arises from the ashes. The minis hobby will survive in some form - just like roleplaying can't be killed outright.

I was thinking the exact same thing, at least about having been there for the Golden Age of miniatures. I'm more nervous about the aftermath...

 

[lynnfredricks]

The US is still a pretty big paper producer I believe. I think we even used to be the top paper producer (though I am pretty Sure China has overtaken us). When I was a kid I remember driving by paper mills in the north east (they have a distinct odor). But a lot of paper is imported I believe. I am trying to find out what the situation for my present arrangements and see if any of this will impact the publishing I do.

I was thinking about that myself. The US has significant lumber resources, much of which haven't been utilized as a result of environmentalist push back.

 

[Zaukrie]

I was thinking about that myself. The US has significant lumber resources, much of which haven't been utilized as a result of environmentalist push back.

Nice political post.....

 

[MGibster]

I was thinking the exact same thing, at least about having been there for the Golden Age of miniatures. I'm more nervous about the aftermath...

I just placed an order with Archon Studios for a pretty good amount. I'd been meaning to try out one of their dragons and I was afraid I might not get another opportunity in the future.

 

[Clint_L]

I just placed an order with Archon Studios for a pretty good amount. I'd been meaning to try out one of their dragons and I was afraid I might not get another opportunity in the future.

Their stuff is really good, IMO. Similar to GW quality. The sizes can be inconsistent on their older stuff, but they seem to have that figured out now.

In terms of tariffs, nobody seems particularly mad at Poland, so it shouldn't be taking as big a hit. They actually do a lot of plastics for other games, so this situation might be very good for them. On the other hand, the way things are going right now, it's pretty tough to confidentially predict anything.

For anyone who wants to get into collecting miniatures, Dungeons and Lasers (Archons house brand) have a pirate-themed kickstarter going right now, and quite frankly it might be the last big miniatures KS until this whole tariff thing sorts itself out.

 

[adamjung]

Well, there appear to be no origination rules (because the administration are idiots), so ship it to, say, Canada, and then ship it into the US (not sure if gaming stuff falls under USMCA, which is currently unaffected), or break it down and ship them in de minimis directly to customers or in < $800 groups. Even if it doesn't fall under USMCA, I think the tariff would still be only 10% with no de minimis limit (yet), a lot less than many other places, like China.

I suppose they could also use all those Canadian fentanyl smugglers... or the Great Maple Syrup Heist crew...

 

[adamjung]

Their stuff is really good, IMO. Similar to GW quality. The sizes can be inconsistent on their older stuff, but they seem to have that figured out now.

In terms of tariffs, nobody seems particularly mad at Poland, so it shouldn't be taking as big a hit. They actually do a lot of plastics for other games, so this situation might be very good for them. On the other hand, the way things are going right now, it's pretty tough to confidentially predict anything.

For anyone who wants to get into collecting miniatures, Dungeons and Lasers (Archons house brand) have a pirate-themed kickstarter going right now, and quite frankly it might be the last big miniatures KS until this whole tariff thing sorts itself out.

Apparently, as an EU member, Poland gets hit with 20%