What Game Publishers Are Saying About The Tariffs

Many tabletop game companies have already spoken out about the recent US tariffs and how they will be affected. I will add to this thread as and when I hear of new statements.

Game Manufacturer's Association (GAMA) -- "The latest imposition of a 54% tariff on products from China by the administration is dire news for the tabletop industry and the broader US economy. As an industry highly dependent on producing goods overseas and importing them into the US, this policy will have devastating consequences. Tariffs are essentially taxes on consumers, not on the countries where the products are produced. Publishers will be forced to pass these costs along to their customers or face the prospect of ceasing operations. Nearly a third of all US consumer goods — including clothes, food products, appliances, cars, and entertainment items like games — are imported. This means higher prices across the board as all these products will need to increase prices to compensate for these new Trump Taxes... This one-two punch is likely to put many of our members out of business or force them to downsize and lay off employees to survive."

Steve Jackson Games -- "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."

EN Publishing -- "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."

Chaosium -- "First, we will certainly need to raise the price of our books and board games. We simply cannot afford to absorb the cost of these additional tariffs. We wish it were otherwise, but that’s just the reality of the situation. Second, this may result in delays. We need to look at potentially new manufacturing locations, new supply chains, etc. This may delay manufacturing of some anticipated products until we know how to deal with the changing environment."

Kobold Press -- "The short and sweet reality is that each hardcover printed outside the US will cost from 20% to 54% more to produce, and like a lot of TTRPG companies, we simply can’t absorb that tax hike and stay in business. The Steve Jackson Games statement makes it abundantly clear; while tariffs can be part of a national strategy, this is a very high, very sudden tax hike for a printing industry that doesn’t have a lot of US capacity. There’s no way to “just move” these projects to the US. So, prices are going up to allow game publishers to pay the new import taxes. There’s very little we can do about it. If you are unhappy with the price hikes, we strongly recommend that you contact you representatives in Congress."

The Arcane Library (Shadowdark)-- "The current tariffs, severe though they are, are not going to impact pricing or deliverabilty of [The Western Reaches]. We planned for this in our margins and can safely absorb the costs."

Evil Baby Entertainment (The Broken Empires) -- "Those of us living in the U.S. know that a whole bunch of new tariffs (read: taxes) have been levied on many imports. There’s no question that I’m going to get hit with at least an extra 20% tax on every product that comes in from my overseas manufacturers. I have heard horror stories about other Kickstarter creators who charged backers additional fees to cover such unanticipated costs. Rest assured: my backers will NOT be charged any additional fees. I will eat the cost of the tariffs myself. Not gonna lie, that’s gonna hurt — but we had a deal, and I have no intention of altering it in the face of this unwelcome development."

Stonemaier Games -- "65% of our sales are in the US, so this will take a heavy toll on Stonemaier Games. We’re fortunate that yesterday’s launch product, Tokaido, arrived in the US just before the original 20% tariffs took effect. We won’t be so fortunate when Vantage–a project I’ve worked on for 8 years–ships from China in May and June. I’m not sure yet what we’ll do about that... Manufacturing the types of games we make is not an option in the US. People have tried, even recently. Even if a company wanted to invest in the infrastructure to try to make it happen, the short-term losses from the tariffs will eat too deep into their cash to make it possible (plus, many of the machines used to make games are also made in China, so you’ll pay a huge tariff even if you invest in the machines needed to make games in the US). Plus, many publishers currently have print runs in production in China–it simply isn’t possible to change course for those print runs. So with costs (tariff taxes) due to skyrocket in a few months, prices will also significantly increase."

Coyote & Crow -- "Osiyo, friends. Not to make this all about Coyote & Crow, but yesterday's news from the US Gov may have some devastating impacts on C&C Games as a whole. A cumulative 54% import tariff on goods from China will essentially kill my company (and the games industry). Sadly, it's partially our own hobby's fault that we're in the worst position to weather this storm. For years, board games have operated on razor thin margins because many fans are resistant to price hikes. But even with the amazingly generous and awesome folks that support Coyote & Crow, we won't survive this. I'm not going to ask anyone to "dig deep" or to in any way stretch themselves to support us. We're /all/ going to be in bad shape in the coming months and years if this plays out like it look like it will. Instead, I'm going to do what Natives always do: we adapt, survive, and carry on. What that exactly means in this situation, I don't know, but I have ideas and in the coming months, I'll be working on those behind the scenes. For now, we have a "fair" amount of inventory of existing games here in the US and Canada, we'll continue working with our digital partners, and we'll be pushing on with Ahu Tiiko - if nothing else to at least get you the PDF. The fate of the print edition is up in the air for the moment, but I will get back to you and all of the backers as my options start to come into focus. I hope you all are planning for your own situations as best you can. We're going to need community to get through this. Stiyu (stay strong)."

 

[Scribe]

The sad part is, if this is what that YTer is so upset about, the only politics it mentions is to say that Trump enacted the tariffs and that he's using them to force other countries to change their policies, and this is only said to be a bad thing inasmuch as it will causes the prices of RPGs and board games to rise. Nothing else.

Its pretty wild that this is somehow controversial.

Everyone should be able to understand exactly how this all works, with about 5 minutes of thought.

 

[billd91]

The sad part is, if this is what that YTer is so upset about, the only politics it mentions is to say that Trump enacted the tariffs and that he's using them to force other countries to change their policies, and this is only said to be a bad thing inasmuch as it will causes the prices of RPGs and board games to rise. Nothing else.

There are people out there with very immature attachments to political/tribal allegiances. As mild as the criticism in Monte Cook Games's post may be, it might as well be saying really bad people saying mean things about Mommy. Any thing critical is a virulent attack that deserves condemnation for daring to be "too political"^tm.

 

[Bae'zel]

Name them, please. Probably never heard of them, but I'd like to make sure I don't accidentally watch anything by the channel since they like boycotts so much.

I sent you a private message with the Youtuber's channel. I don't want to create a stir or anything (maybe it's too late, oh well).

 

[Cordwainer Fish]

Any thing critical is a virulent attack that deserves condemnation for daring to be "too political"tm.

Whenever someone says 'keep politics out of it', they always mean 'keep all politics except my own out of this'.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I sent you a private message with the Youtuber's channel. I don't want to create a stir or anything (maybe it's too late, oh well).

Thanks. Best approach, I think. That creator already has some controversy around them that doesn't need to be amplified when it can just be ignored instead.

The Palainians had it right, although I do question how you build a starfaring civilization when your prime social directive is ignore, and be ignored.

 

[mamba]

Everyone should be able to understand exactly how this all works, with about 5 minutes of thought.

you are expecting way too much of (a certain group of) US voters...

 

[Umbran]

you are expecting way too much of (a certain group of) US voters...

Mod note:
Political commentary and insult in the same package?

Out of the thread you go!

 

[Parmandur]

Another update on the Stormlight RPG and tariffs today:

Today's update will focus almost entirely on tariffs, and how we're planning to manage them for this campaign. Before we dive into that topic, we're happy to report that production continues to be right on schedule. We've produced the majority of accessories (GM screens, cards, tokens, miniatures) and we're well into book production. Here's a look inside a final production copy of the Stormlight World Guide:


When it comes to all the factors within our control, we're feeling great about our progress. The rest of today's update will discuss how we're contending with global issues that are more challenging for us to manage.

A Rapidly Escalating Trade War
As you likely know, President Trump has imposed sweeping tariffs on most goods manufactured in China. During the past month, the trade war between the US and China has escalated to unprecedented levels. Under the latest tariffs, Brotherwise would pay an additional 145% in taxes against the cost of most Cosmere RPG products, all of which are being produced in China.


These extreme tariffs are hitting at a time when Stormlight production has been well underway for months, materials have been purchased, and factory bills have been paid. These tariffs present an almost overwhelming obstacle to toy and game publishers like us, but we’re doing our best to take a thoughtful approach to this challenge, and minimize the impact to you, our backers.

Considering Every Scenario
Before we go any further, we want to make something clear: At every step in this process, our guiding principle has been to avoid price increases for Cosmere RPG backers.

It has been a chaotic few weeks, and we’ve been running a lot of scenarios for how to survive this trade war. But none of those plans have involved imposing an extra surcharge on backers to cover the tariffs. Behind the scenes, here’s how we’ve reacted to each tariff increase as they’ve been announced:

20% Tariffs: At this level, we felt confident in our ability to cover the tariff costs. The success of this Kickstarter, and strong economies of scale, put us in a position to handle this kind of cost increase.

54% Tariffs: This is a huge tariff amount, and not feasible for most companies like ours. When we faced 54% tariffs, our plan was to generate some new PDF content and give backers the chance to add on a couple of “tariff relief” e-supplements. (A few $5 or $10 PDFs wouldn’t be enough to outweigh the tariffs, but would soften the blow if enough people opted in.) We considered this our worst-case scenario, but one that we could survive.

145% Tariffs: This level of tariff, which went into effect on April 10, is effectively an embargo. At this point, the costs reach into the millions of dollars and become impossible to meaningfully offset. Paying these tariffs would drastically undercut our ability to invest in the future of this RPG.

Part of the challenge we face is that these tariffs are so unpredictable. At any time, these tariffs could increase, drop, or disappear. These tariffs put us in a situation where shipping a product on the wrong day could be a multimillion-dollar mistake. There are signs that the administration may be softening its stance on tariffs, so we are closely watching the news to see how the situation develops.

Our Plan for this Kickstarter
To make the best of a very difficult and unpredictable situation, here’s how we plan to proceed. This plan prevents any price increases for backers.

1. All backers will receive PDFs and digital rewards in late July. We want all of you to be able to start playing the game you’ve backed.

2. We’ll revise our fulfillment plans so international backers are not affected. Under our revised plans, international orders (including Canada and Mexico) will not ship through the US.

3. International fulfillment will proceed on time. We’ll begin international fulfillment without delay. Assuming our production schedules continue to proceed as they have, that means international fulfillment will begin in September.

4. US fulfillment will face delays if tariffs persist. We’ll be ready to ship product on time if tariffs drop over the next two months. If not, we will hold goods in China while we reassess the situation.

5. Mistborn development has not been delayed. We’re still on track to deliver the Mistborn campaign setting on time. We’ve already set aside all funds for design, art, and production (though we’re exploring US and European manufacturing options).

Predictions are very difficult to make right now, and we wouldn't be surprised if tariff levels shift several times between now and the end of June, when our production is complete. We will continue to monitor tariffs daily and we’re prepared to jump on fulfillment quickly if the situation improves.

Always the Next Step
This is a deeply frustrating situation for everyone involved. Here at Brotherwise, we’re looking at beautiful production samples of all these books, and we want nothing more than to get them in everyone’s hands.

At the same time, we have our sights set on the future of the Cosmere RPG. We’re trying to make the choices that will allow this RPG to thrive for years to come, and that includes keeping Brotherwise productive and in business during this halt in US-China trade. Right now, we’re hearing from peers in the game industry who don’t think they can stay solvent if the tariffs last more than a couple of months. We’re seeing some publishers already starting to furlough workers and cut costs. Right now, we have no such plans.

Our teams are well into Mistborn development and taking the first steps on Worldhopper and Warbreaker content. All of our decisions are designed to maintain that long-term momentum.

Tariff FAQs
We know folks have a lot of questions right now, and here are some that might be on your minds:

Will Brotherwise have to pay tariffs on the RPG books? Or are they exempt?
Right now, this is unclear. Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, “informational materials” like books are exempt from tariffs. However, past rulings on RPGs have miscategorized RPG sourcebooks as game accessories rather than books. We’re working through this with our customs broker and hoping for new precedents to be established.

Can I cancel my order if I don’t want to wait for physical goods?
While we recommend waiting for your physical rewards, we understand if you don’t want to endure an uncertain wait. As long as you cancel your pledge prior to digital reward distribution, we can provide a refund.

Can I shift my US order to an international address?
If your circumstances allow, you may shift your US address to an international address. In this scenario, your new shipping cost would be whatever other backers are paying for shipping to that region.

Can I pay you more now to get my rewards in the U.S. sooner? Can you ship the books to us now and the non-book products later?
Unfortunately, given the scale of this project, we can’t accommodate individual shipments. And splitting the project into multiple shipments to each backer could be even more expensive than the tariffs themselves.

President Trump promised tariffs on the campaign trail. Why didn’t you anticipate this issue?
Our scenario planning did include tariffs, but Trump’s actions in office have far exceeded even his boldest rhetoric on the campaign trail. In general, most economists and policymakers do not endorse tariffs. Those who do have recommended gradual implementation of tariffs on China (e.g. 2% per month) and up to a maximum of 60%. The rapid escalation of tariffs has hamstrung the ability for American businesses, particularly smaller ones like Brotherwise, to pursue sourcing in the US or other countries outside of China.

Why don’t you shift production to the US?
Production on this project began some time ago, but even looking to the future, moving production to the US would be incredibly challenging. From a trade perspective, the US focuses on services and high-complexity goods. Due to our relative wealth and standards of living, our labor costs and manufacturing base do not support lower-complexity, high-labor products like games and toys. It’s very difficult to find manufacturing alternatives to China that offer the same combination of scale (supporting our high print runs) and quality (supporting promised features like gilded edges and spot UV).

When we sourced this project, even when we looked at a “worst case scenario” of 60% tariff scenarios, prices in China were still considerably lower than those in the US, Canada, or Eastern Europe. The situation is even worse for plastic goods like dice and miniatures, which require heavy manufacturing equipment to make at scale. It would take years for the US to ramp up the capacity for tooling and injection molding, and most materials and industrial machinery required for that work would need to be sourced from China.

Why don’t you handle this differently? For example, why don’t you pass the tariffs on to backers?
We’ve seen a few commenters suggest that businesses should charge their customers more for products, with the goal of turning consumer sentiment against these tariff policies. We’re also seeing a lot of our peers in the industry react to these tariffs in different ways, including those who have no choice but to pass on the costs. We’re doing what feels best to us right now, trying to navigate this crisis while keeping our promises. We appreciate your patience with the decisions we’re making, but also hope you save some understanding for publishers who can’t make the same choices.


This will all be worth it!
Confident, and Somehow Still Full of Hope
At Brotherwise Games, we are optimists. That’s what has driven us to pursue a project this ambitious, and so far, that positive outlook has been justified thanks to the strength of the Cosmere community. We’ve appreciated your support through this project’s triumphs, and we hope you’ll continue to root for us as we face some tribulations. We’ll continue to maintain open lines of communication in the weeks and months ahead. Thanks for your patience, and for believing in us as much as we believe in this RPG.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brotherwise/the-stormlight-archive-rpg/posts/4368937?ref=ksr_email_mktg_auto_backer_project_update_registered_users

 

[Black Dougal]

The part in the FAQs about "anticipating tariffs" is something that irks me after seeing it numerous times in some Kickstarter comment complaints. No one anticipated this at this level. I mean geez.

Thanks for the post.

 

[Parmandur]

The part in the FAQs about "anticipating tariffs" is something that irks me after seeing it numerous times in some Kickstarter comment complaints. No one anticipated this at this level. I mean geez.

Thanks for the post.

I think it's actually pretty impressive they came up with a business plan to deal with up to 60% tariffs, considering how absurd that would have sounded a few months ago.