An incredibly interesting tech piece talking about console gaming and some of the huge changes that might be imminent due to the economic state of the world.
Some interesting points from the article:
87% of console hardware is made in China
145% tariff would be placed on these devices
“Prices could rise as much as 69% or more per unit manufactured”
Imports could fall as much as 71% due to the increase in cost of production + tariffs
Consumers would be expected to cut back on purchasing by as much as 73%
US economy would lose more than $10bn annually as a result of these changes in the console space
42 Comments
“Economic state of the world” == “trump tariffs”
Who could have predicted this?
Turns out sleepy Joe was doing a better job in his sleep.
“I did that!”
-Donald J Trump, 2025
Wow exactly what was warned would happen is now actually happening. People have no idea what they vote for, or worse yet double down on whatever “their guy” says/does even if the negative impacts are clear as day
Working class living standards are shocking around the world. This is not a surprise.
I have so many goddamned games in my backlog from buying in twice yearly sales. I’m good. My PS5 didn’t really become necessary until this year anyway. So, existing consoles and backlog it will be until this bullshit is over, although the prices will never come back down and wages aren’t looking like they’ll catch up so oh fucking well I guess.
GTA 6 enjoyers in shambles
GTA 6 is going to cost $200
Trump a ho fo sho
it’s okay guys, trump says all of the corporations from other countries will just move to the U.S. and everything will be okay! /s
*In the USA
Not just console gaming, PC gaming is going to skyrocket as well.
Glad I built a brand new PC before this whole tariff mess started.
“Consumers are expected to pirate by 99%”
Oh no, who would have ever seen this coming
*In the US
After the tariffs disappear the prices will not go down. This is the real crime that corpo will put on the public.
Well, to be fair, when people cut back on expenses, owning some good gaming hardware to help spend more time at home and reduce spending elsewhere is always good. For this reason, digital gaming is one of the thriftiest hobbies and best ways to save money. At least in my experience. That said, I think this applies more to PC gaming than console.
This will lead to a lot more self fixing of consoles that bust and could be the final knife to the jugular of GameStop.
I think this really only impacts North America, and only the USA once Canada has a distribution centre same with Mexico.
American gamers are going to have it rough the next couple years
Told my wife this around Christmas when the PS5 sale was going on. Get it now, cause shits going to vanish at some point throughout this shit show.
I’m boycotting software and hardware above a reasonable price.
I can literally sell my used (and out of use) series X for more than I paid for it 5 years ago.
Nintendo finally catches up to ps4 performance and says games at that level are $90.
Nope.
Looks like smuggling is back on the menu boys.
How could Biden do this to us?!
/s
Glad I upgraded my PC and I don’t need any more games or a new console.
Science!
Nintendo just made PC gaming cheaper than console gaming.
700+$ for the system. 100$+ per game. A lower end gaming PC goes for 650$. Epic games gives away a free game weekly, and four massive steam sales per year.
Damn, Cheeto boy angered the gamers.
Wonder how many will just take it and ask for more with a smile lmao
I’m waiting to see if the Republicans start advocating for slavery to compete with Chinese manufacturing.
Me… Waiting a good price for a gpu upgrade… Since 2020….
> due to the economic state of the world.
That’s a really kind way to rephrase “due to Trump’s bullshit”.
Don’t be nice to Trump. He doesn’t deserve it. Call it out for what it is.
Why? Voters wanted these high prices.
Just get old consoles modded and take the next 3 years off from this generation and enjoy all the classics. Then when you come back all these games and consoles will be dirt cheap
The gamer, the gamers
Hopefully this will inspire more people to vote, we’ve got midterms coming up and we need to stack congress to start reverting some of the damage this administration is causing
Can’t wait for the tarrif price increase for Americans. And the splash damage for Canadians. (We won’t have the tariffs. But they will just keep the change)
Microsoft Xbox is dead to Canadians. After price increase.
“Maybe instead of 30 consoles you get 0”
Once you have the hardware, you can pretty much just go all digital after that. And even if you can’t afford the new systems you can get the old ones for pretty cheap with wide availability of even brand new games supported on those older systems.
About 1/3rd of the gaming I do these days is on cloud on my tv. And it’s only getting better. If console prices really turn the corner from “the cost of an aspirational Christmas present” to “the cost of a major kitchen appliance”, then I have to imagine a lot of people sitting out the next generation.
I just checked some prices on replacement parts from liftmaster and the parts I was looking at have a 107% surcharge on them.
Glad I got a PS5 Pro, an LG G4, and a switch 2 on pre-order
Look at Microsoft, they raised their prices on everything to offset the tariffs. And they didn’t just do it in the US, it is all over the world.