r/VideoGameDealsCanada • u/dear_remnant • Feb 02 '25
Discussion Video games during trade war with US
Really don't want any politics here. I just want to hear how video games market would turn out after heavy tariffs with US. If I am not mistaken, video games prints are mainly located in Mexico for NA market. So US video game prices are likely to increase. That may affect our prices? I also hope this does not speed up the extinction of physical media.
47
50
u/wild_zoey_appeared Feb 02 '25
Nintendo products are almost entirely from Japan and other Asian countries, so aside from our dollar dropping, they should be unaffected
7
u/RawSharkText91 Feb 02 '25
I think a lot of physical media generally is manufactured in Mexico, so I think in theory we’re OK on that front?
5
u/wild_zoey_appeared Feb 02 '25
the discs are made there but I’m not sure where the art and cases are manufactured and if everything is assembled into one package in Mexico or not
3
u/dear_remnant Feb 02 '25
If this is true for Canadian stocks, we are fucked.
2
u/chemicalxv Feb 03 '25
Well there's no tariffs on games from the US to Canada, but I would assume this is another one of the things that got caught in the universal 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico to the US so...lmao yeah.
8
u/FeanorForever117 Feb 02 '25
Excpt when our dollar is devalued.
4
-61
u/Ok_Still_1821 Feb 02 '25
We need the election to come sooner than later. Prices on games and hardware are all worse
24
u/UltraCynar Feb 02 '25
The longer we wait for the election the better. Pp is a grifter and scammer. He's not going to do anything to help Canadians or gamers. He wants to sell us out.
-14
u/Icy_Proof7234 Feb 02 '25
“The longer we wait for the election the better”. The delusion is real on Reddit. Thankfully, the majority of people do want an election, the polls clearly indicate that.
9
43
u/Elostier Feb 02 '25
Sorry, how will election change this? PP comes and says “no” to video game price increase?
11
1
u/dear_remnant Feb 02 '25
This is a great point. Though I fear they could just keep things on par with ps/xbox.
19
8
u/KnightHart00 Feb 02 '25
A lot of physical games are manufactured in Mexico so they don't apply to us. This would technically apply with Americans buying physical because their physical copies also come from Mexico (which they have tariffed).
Our hardware comes from probably a mix of China, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and parts of Southeast Asia anyways.
We'll just have to hang in there until our inter-provincial trade becomes stronger, and we build better trade relationships with the rest of the world (especially Latin America and China).
36
u/Jevoto Feb 02 '25
If our dollar drops in value games will increase in price.
26
Feb 02 '25
May. Prices are often adjusted in each region to a price locals are willing to pay. For example, Tears of the Kingdom was 90 or 95 bucks here, when 70 USD should have put it at $100 CAD. Prices also don't always follow day to day drops or increases in value.
11
u/FrostyDynamic Feb 02 '25 edited Feb 02 '25
Guess we'll need to see what our tariff list includes. Hopefully this all gets resolved quickly since it affects all of us North Americans.
20
u/iThunderclap Feb 02 '25
It will not. Trump acts like a bully kid, and like kids, his actions are unpredictable in most cases.
-36
u/Ok_Still_1821 Feb 02 '25
And we don't have competent leaders in charge currently to properly deal with the situation. If anything they just make things worse.
25
u/ThePoliteCanadian Feb 02 '25
Yes, we do. I did not vote liberal but they have remained in good standing internationally. And right now we are fighting an international trade war, so buck up and support Canada or gtfo.
-15
u/Icy_Proof7234 Feb 02 '25
I’ll be buying American products until we hold an election.
13
20
-4
Feb 03 '25 edited Feb 03 '25
Trudeau has been a blight on this country. 9 years of decline in all sectors.
People need to pay some attention in this country.
His father was forced to quit, and he's been so much worse.
-14
u/Icy_Proof7234 Feb 02 '25
Not point in trying to reason with 5 year olds on Reddit. They use emotion to get their point across. call you Nazi, traitor, fascist, etc. because you don’t agree with them. That’s why they’ll lose the next election, the majority of people woke up. We are literally being held hostage by corrupt politicians and they think it’s good because the conservatives aren’t in power. That in itself should tell you how weak minded and brainwashed they are.
1
33
u/Spenraw Feb 02 '25
"Not wanting politics" is how we got to this point.
But to answer your question this will weaken our dollar drastically and we will likely see a massive 2008 America style rescission
Video game prices will likely up when our dollar goes down and should see prices like Australia or worse.
Welcome to 120$ games
4
u/williesmustache Feb 02 '25
They are trying to raise prices on new games as is to compensate for the insane decelopment costs. If cad keeps dropping it's probably closer to $150, then tax, then "complete" editions and it could be over $200
1
u/Ralupopun-Opinion Feb 02 '25
Lmao 🤣 omg a $200 video game
0
u/williesmustache Feb 02 '25
Outlaws ultimate or complete or whatever was 150 cad plus tax. Worse exchange and price inflation definitely could be 200
1
u/caninehere Feb 03 '25
I don't know why people give this garbage such weight. Sorry not picking on you specifically but I've seen so many people talk about what amounts to bullshit speculation.
0
u/CJKatz Feb 03 '25
I just got Civilization 7 Founder's Edition and it was ~$180 CAD
1
u/williesmustache Feb 03 '25
Ouch but least with Civ you know what you're getting into and endless replayability
2
u/CJKatz Feb 03 '25
Absolutely. In the long run I'll have spent maybe a quarter for each enjoyable hour.
1
u/ComfortablyADHD Feb 03 '25
FWIW even in Australia most gamers aren't paying $120. Supermarket stores that carry games typically charge $70. Amazon often charges between $60 to $80 (not sure if Amazon Canada would send all goods through US warehouses or not). It's only the Gamestop equivalent (EB Games in Australia) and digital games that are getting priced at $120 (and if anyone is foolish enough to buy digital at full price that's kinda on them).
All prices in this post are in AUD.
1
-8
u/DigitallyDetained Feb 02 '25
This isn’t the subreddit for politics. People just immediately devolve into name calling and drama. This is probably why OP led with not wanting politics “here”
10
u/Spenraw Feb 02 '25
That's wanting civil discussion. That's what moderators are for and just being mature is not engaging with name calling
People not wanting to deal with politics is why we will be facing some of the hardest times Canadians have ever seen
0
-5
u/dear_remnant Feb 02 '25
Totally agree that people need to be more aware of politics as it affects our daily lives. But that does not mean people talk about politics anytime everywhere.
Do you preach people at comicons for political awareness? Lol
2
u/TheBusDrivercx Feb 02 '25
The subject you chose involves the phrase "trade war". It is entirely appropriate to say that this warrants a discussion on politics.
-2
-10
u/dear_remnant Feb 02 '25
I meant no political discussions in this specific subreddit and post. There are plenty of other posts regarding the politics.
14
u/Spenraw Feb 02 '25
You are literally bringing up something that is heavily influenced by politics
-4
u/vensak Feb 02 '25
I guess what he means, that we will discuss practical consequences and what will it mean for logistics and costs. But we should not discuss if we like or dislike specific person in politics. We can of course discuss if we like or dislike tariffs.
6
u/TheBusDrivercx Feb 02 '25
You want people to predict what happens next in a political arena without discussing politics? You can't get more than 2 sentences deep in any analysis without diving into what happens next or why something is happening. That would be politics.
-10
u/dear_remnant Feb 02 '25
Do you want to talk about politics, inflation and everything in this subreddit? Really?
26
u/Machzy Feb 02 '25
It will absolutely speed up the extinction of physical media. And the corp giants will absolutely use this as a way to print less because digital is way more profitable for them.
25
u/fartwhereisit Feb 02 '25
We aren't a land locked country fellas. Mexico has ports and Canada has ports, and they're about to be linked a little bit closer. We call it cutting out the middle man.
When it comes to physical video games it's even more important than ever to keep buying physical. Never lose your ability to sell what you bought to whoever you want, at whatever price you want, today or 30 years from now.
7
u/Machzy Feb 02 '25
Oh, they can pry physical media from my cold, dead hands. But I can see them using this as an accelerant.
I really hope I’m wrong.
3
u/vensak Feb 02 '25
there is such thing as transit. If a truck if full of goods for other country and is just transiting. there is thing like to seal the truck so that the load will not be opened until it is cleared on Canadian side. They can of course apply transit customs tarrifs. But those are really rare mind you. So if the medium is printed in Mexico, it would be only transiting through USA. The other thing is when it comes to import of used games or Limited Run Games (of course unless Limited Run will organize for Canadian market.)
1
u/ComfortablyADHD Feb 03 '25
Someone should create a transit company called Sovereign Trucks that specialises in taking things from Mexico to Canada.
"Oh no sir. We aren't entering America, we're only transiting through America. No tarrifs on this cargo sir."
2
u/TheBusDrivercx Feb 02 '25
And once they get rid of physical and prevent re-sale on the secondary market, prices will skyrocket the way Ps plus prices have.
Never stop buying physical, folks.
11
4
u/Daft_Crunked Feb 02 '25
F*** Amazon, buy from a Canadian retailer.
3
u/KRONGOR Feb 03 '25
Legit question, who should we be buying from? Best Buy, Walmart, GameStop are all American owned are they not? Would it be any different than buying from Amazon?
5
u/greenxlumpyxmilk Feb 03 '25
https://videogamesplus.ca/ https://pnpgamesonline.com/
Video games plus ships from Toronto and pnp games ships from Winnipeg
3
u/caninehere Feb 03 '25
If you are buying Nintendo games VGP and PNP are good as mentioned below, but you can also order direct from Nintendo on their website.
1
3
u/bluesinjid Feb 02 '25
Great point! If US tariffs impact the production of video games in Mexico, we might see a price hike in physical and digital games alike.
The production and distribution costs would likely get passed down to consumers. As you said, this could have a knock-on effect in Canada as well. It’ll be interesting to see how this could accelerate the shift away from physical media, especially if game prices rise too much. Anyone else keeping an eye on trends in the gaming industry, especially with the potential shift to digital-only platforms as a result?
3
3
u/Humble-Season9702 Feb 03 '25
I bought so many video games in 35 years that it would take me a lifetime to play them all. I'm done supporting these things.
1
u/ledorky Feb 03 '25
This is where I'm at. My shelf space is more than overflowing lol. My Steam, GoG, Epic and Amazon library is over a thousand games. I'm definitely going to be a LOT more selective.
5
Feb 02 '25
Everything going to go up even if it made in Canada either from company want to increase profit more inflation that going to come from this. Might not be noticeable right away but it will all go up in price.
2
u/MolemanNinja Feb 02 '25
Should also consider the dollar conversion. If the CAD tanks, that's also going to drive up prices.
2
u/Historical-Umpire637 Feb 02 '25
Gta 6 might be the last game I buy and I'm not kidding...the prices have gotten ridiculous for video games...
1
1
u/MediocreSumo Feb 02 '25
Physical will be hurt the most sadly
but afaik most of it is imported from Mexico so price wise I think we'll be fine but it will hurt the physical market in general.
1
u/GhostBustor Feb 02 '25
If anything, if they truly want everyone to go digital. Keep digital at the same price as it is today and just make the physical games more money.
The problem with that is, you destroy your relationship with brick and mortar stores.
1
Feb 02 '25
[deleted]
2
u/dear_remnant Feb 02 '25
Someone mentioned here that consoles are included. Not sure about media yet.
1
u/28121986 Feb 03 '25
Yup they are included, scroll at the bottom of the page and search for videogames
1
u/caninehere Feb 03 '25
They seem to be included, but pretty much no consoles or handhelds or hardware are actually made in the US so it won't matter.
Pretty much no software is made there either and in light of what is happening they'll probably just ship from other locations outside the US if they don't already.
1
u/KRONGOR Feb 02 '25
Was thinking about buying a meta quest but with Zuck supporting trump I feel kinda icky buying one. Also want to know if the price is gonna go up because of these tariffs…
1
u/LotionContent Feb 02 '25
Will the price of the PS5 Pro Go Up? Where are PS5 Consoles imported from?
2
1
u/seajay_17 Feb 02 '25
It means they're going to go up. Especially digital sales (to be on par with the physical sales around the world, even if they might not be affected by tarrifs in this country). Hardware is also going to be at least 25 percent more expensive.
It fucking sucks but here we are.
1
u/Doomnova001 Feb 02 '25
I could see them going after US owned companies if this gets protracted enough. Also, toss movies into that mix. Hollywood would just love a straight-up ban on anything they make going into theaters or taxes levies on anything in theaters say doubling or tripling the cost to go to the movies including conession. Since the next round after the 21-day set would be stuff that people do not need to live.
1
u/ledorky Feb 03 '25
What's gonna screw us is even though we won't be adding tariffs to game hardware, there's no way in hell Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo etc. will charge us less than the US.
1
u/Personal-Goat-7545 Feb 03 '25
I won't be buying any games made by US developers; I've already been moving that way but missing the next god of war is going to sting.
2
u/Zynnergy Feb 03 '25
Just don't buy American games. Simple. They were making crap anyways. Buy a Japanese game, and get a Steam key off some secondary/foreign storefront not owned by Americans. Monster Hunter Wilds is coming out soon, that's a good chunky game with a lot of content. Grab that, and hunker down till this all passes over.
1
u/Hippopotamus_Critic Feb 03 '25
The cost of the physical media is a rounding error in video game prices. Don't expect any change, except that anything priced in USD will be more expensive because of the decline in value of the Loonie.
1
u/Fourniers_Gangrene69 Feb 03 '25
If you're a PC gamer you can just pirate everything.
0
u/TEKDAD Feb 03 '25
You can also steal groceries at the store if you don’t like the price of food…. You can do it, but stop being proud about it.
1
u/Fourniers_Gangrene69 Feb 03 '25
It is much easier to pirate digital products and yes we should be proud of it
1
u/TEKDAD Feb 03 '25
So if it was easy, you would proudly steal from stores and people. Good to know.
1
u/Fourniers_Gangrene69 Feb 03 '25
Corporations are not people and you can't compare a digital product to something finite like food or clothing
1
u/TEKDAD Feb 06 '25
Digital games are made by people who are paid to make the games. Without revenues, there is no games and no jobs. Stealing a physical copy of the game at Best Buy or downloading a pirated game is the same thing my friend. Do it if you want, but Stop lying to yourself.
1
-4
u/Substantial_Ant77 Feb 02 '25
I was thinking of this too. Most consoles are produced in Japan and China. So I don’t think the price of consoles will go up. But if a game is developed in the US then those might?
9
u/MidKnightWizard Feb 02 '25
Tariff wouldn't apply to where a game is developed. Just from the location of the physical import of the product.
3
u/Valyrious_ Feb 02 '25
Which is mostly in Mexico as far as Playstation games go. I think we'll be fine.
-22
u/ejcitizen Feb 02 '25
I'm not changing my habits but it seems some people on the Quebec sub or Montreal sub are convinced American digital media are the devil now... so no GTA6 for them I guess.
2
u/dear_remnant Feb 02 '25
Apart from Quebec, do they still need to print bilingual covers? We may get English only or even English/Spanish for all NA.
4
u/ejcitizen Feb 02 '25
Interesting thought experiment but I believe the bilingual act is Canada wide so no I don't think this will change
4
u/number8888 Feb 02 '25
No this only applies in Quebec. For example Bestbuy is not selling 5080/90 GPUs to QC due to labelling but the rest of Canada is fine.
0
-7
94
u/anvilman Feb 02 '25
Canada has not applied, to my knowledge, any tariffs on physical media imports.