Will the trade war affect sales of the game in Canada, Mexico

[Bast]

And to a lesser extent China? Maybe the effect will be none but you have to wonder with the timing of it all.

 

[tedhebert]

honestly, I don't think it's a good idea to enter into the subject... This is not a place for that kind of talk... maybe other parts of the forum ?

 

[Evie]

Limiting myself soley to the direct impacts and not the broader conflict which is best suited to elsewhere, I haven't noticed if video games are on the list of tariffed products (by Canada and Mexico). If they are, certaintly a 25% on the price of a modern AAA game in countries that already tend to hav ehigher prices could hurt sales. Even more so Deluxe or Founder.

 

[Albertan Civfanatic]

I think it's legitimate for someone in a tariff affected country to ask if the US tariffs will financially impede them from buying and playing the game we all know and love.

 

[tedhebert]

I think it's legitimate for someone in a tariff affected country to ask if the US tariffs will financially impede them from buying and playing the game we all know and love.

I agree... But I think the OFF-TOPIC forum is better suited for those discussions...

*Snip*

Moderator Action: Post snipped because of PDMA ~ LK

 

[Archon8]

I think it's legitimate for someone in a tariff affected country to ask if the US tariffs will financially impede them from buying and playing the game we all know and love.

If you are Canadian, US tariffs do not affect your domestic prices. It's your own country's tariffs that could "financially impede" you.

 

[Gen.Washington]

Realistically you’d be better off just looking into if Canadian tariffs will affect games. Even on off topic there is very much an anti-Trump sentiment and you’ll get answers simply based on that.

 

[canadamufc]

I think it is a valid question. After Feb 4., when Canadian tariffs are enacted, will the prices go up for video games (including Civ VII) in Canada?

 

[Krikkit1]

I think it is a valid question. After Feb 4., when Canadian tariffs are enacted, will the prices go up for video games (including Civ VII) in Canada?

It also might depend on how the games are purchased... if you prepurchased will the price go up? (I would presume not)

 

[The_goggles_do_nothing]

I don’t think there are any tariffs that affect video games at this point. There’s no guarantee that will not change. There also no guarantee there will not be export “tariffs” in the future.

 

[Willie5000]

Given that video games don’t have to be physically exported anymore… no not really.

 

[Acken]

Not likely. Putting a tarrif on goods is rather easy because when an importer is bringing goods he/she simply pays based on a tariff grid and the government just modifies that grid as a political/trade lever. Even ordinary sale taxes have historically taken time to be applied on digital products. At this point the canadian gov has bigger worries than trying to tax imported video games.

 

[SemiLazyGamer]

And to a lesser extent China? Maybe the effect will be none but you have to wonder with the timing of it all.

I can't find a list of Mexican tariffs, but Canadian tariffs only apply to video game consoles and not games.

I don't even think any major game console actually gets made in the US.

Also, most game studios are located in states that voted for Kamala. FIreaxis is, and the only one I can think of off the top of my head that is located in a state that voted for Trump is Nintendo's Retro Studios.

EDIT: Just remembered that this would affect any consoles stored in the US and moved over the border, but I think a lot of companies would have put in contingencies for this and had storage in Mexico and Canada for their needs there.

 

[TheSpaceCowboy]

Also, most game studios are located in states that voted for Kamala. FIreaxis is, and the only one I can think of off the top of my head that is located in a state that voted for Trump is Nintendo's Retro Studios.

That’s not particularly relevant to the discussion. Tariffs affect red and blue states alike.

 

[SemiLazyGamer]

That’s not particularly relevant to the discussion. Tariffs affect red and blue states alike.

From what I understand, the tariffs, noth at a national and province/state level have been specifically targeted towards states and the companies within that voted for Trump to pinch those voters. If tariffs are hitting a state that voted Kamala, then it's collateral damage. Like the tariffs towards beer and wine.

 

[canadamufc]

I can confirm that some of the Canadian tariffs have been targeted at red states specifically.

BC, for example, is only targeting liquor from red states.

 

[sonicmyst]

Off topic but I suddenly had a surge of wish for a tariff-based mechanic as a game event sometime in the future.

How would Firaxis design such mechanic? We'll see.

On topic: I do hope tariffs wont affect game prices since those are digital goods. Only thing I can think of possible for tariffs are gadgets like consoles or computer parts.

 

[Methos]

This begs the question of what percentage of sales are the physical copy, compared to the percentage of digital? I haven't bought a physical in a very long time.

 

[Siptah]

Are there even any physical copies produced in North America?

The few PS5 games I own physically are produced in Austria, so maybe they are also produced in the US or Mexico?

 

[UWHabs]

I'm no expert, but reading an article like this (https://gamerant.com/trump-tafiffs-video-games-more-expensive/), it seems to imply that only physical media is generally affected. This article (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trumps-tariffs-could-cost-gamers-142000313.html?guccounter=1) also mentions digital games not necessarily be impacted, other than ripple effects in the industry (if consoles and physical game prices rise, some companies might raise digital game prices to match).