China Tariffs Could Be the Death Knell for Small Game Publishers

The board game industry is no stranger to being “different.” From the creativity of the designers, to the passion of the players, to the community-focused nature of the companies that create these games, the tabletop hobby has always had a culture that’s different from most mainstream media. But it’s also a business, with production costs, retail markups, and, let’s face it, a relatively small profit margin. So when the Trump administration last week announced a 54 percent tariff on all goods imported from China, many in the industry feared for the future of their livelihoods. This week, Jamey Stegmaier, the designer of recent hits such as Scythe and Wingspan, tweeted his dismay over the newly announced tax, which he called “catastrophic for our industry.”

“The last few days have left me feeling incredibly hopeless and frustrated,” he wrote in a blog post. “I’ve been firing off emails to people that might have an interest in this sort of thing, trying to do my part to at least get our voices out there. Last night I tried to work on a new game I’m brainstorming, but it’s tough to create something for the future when that future looks so grim. I mostly just found myself staring blankly at the enormity of the newly announced 54 percent tariff.”

For a designer whose games sell worldwide, in games stores and hobby shops, and to serious gamers and “casuals” alike, it was a surprisingly personal and emotional post—and it doesn’t seem to be an isolated feeling.

A Global Supply Chain, Upended

It’s a near-universal reality. The American board game market imports the vast majority of its goods from China for a good reason: cost. Germany is another board game production center (Germany is the spiritual home of modern tabletop gaming, after all), but it tends to be limited to the more easily scalable components of production. Think of printed cards. The industrial capacity in China includes that, of course. But it also means custom plastic miniatures, wooden tokens, die-cut game boards, specialty dice, and just about everything else.

Yes, it’s possible to have all of those components printed or manufactured in the U.S. (or, well, the U.K. or Poland, or wherever else American publishers have production facilities, which is a very small list). It just can’t be done profitably. Stegmaier himself said that he once got a quote for $10 from a domestic manufacturer for a standard empty game box. That same $10, if it weren’t made in the U.S., could go a long way toward having games printed and packaged in China.

This is why this new tariff is such a disruptive move. As Stegmaier said, most board game publishers in the U.S., especially the small- to medium-sized ones, operate on extremely thin margins. A sudden, unanticipated doubling of cost with no lead time to find cost savings elsewhere is an existential threat to most in the industry.

Responses from Industry Heavyweights

Responses to the announcement from other industry leaders have been largely consistent. Meredith Placko, CEO of Steve Jackson Games, another publisher that has been in the hobby game market for decades, told customers this week that, while her company was “lucky enough to have a war chest” to “absorb a cost shock” in the short-term, in the long run this will force publishers to “scale back new releases,” force gamers to look at their “shelves of shame” for unplayed games, or simply raise prices.

“We import our games from overseas for the same reason that every other board game publisher does,” she wrote. “Because it can’t be done for a reasonable cost here in the US. Some people ask, “Why not manufacture in the US?” 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.”

For Placko, a second-generation tabletop publisher, this isn’t merely a change in sourcing. It’s a change to the business’s very foundation, and it can’t be overcome by “minor pivots.” “This,” she concluded, “is not just a policy change, but a seismic shift in the ground on which we all operate.”

Rob Daviau, the co-founder of Restoration Games and designer of Pandemic Legacy, has also been voicing his concerns about the potential of such tariffs for months. Daviau, a fixture on social media, tweeted that over the past months, nearly every business meeting he’s had has become “an existential crisis about our industry.” A few days ago, he told BoardGameWire that he anticipated “a great collapse in the hobby gaming market in the US if these tariffs ever get implemented.”

Gamers Will Feel Pinch; Local Game Shops at Risk

It’s not just the publishers and designers who will take the hit. Gamers can expect to pay more for new games. They can also expect a hit to quality, as some publishers seek to offset the cost increases by cutting corners. Others will simply elect to scale back their offerings.

But, as mentioned above, there’s the question of game shops. Brick-and-mortar retailers were already facing an uphill battle against internet sales. With gamers no doubt turning to their collections for new games or, if they have to buy new, looking online for better deals, the ripple effect on local game shops could be devastating.

“In a few months, US companies will lose a lot of money and/or go out of business,” Stegmaier tweeted. “And US citizens will suffer from extreme inflation.”

Few Options for Avoiding Tariffs; A Lot of Heat over Timing

That’s not to say there are no workarounds. Some publishers have floated that it would be possible to route shipments through other, non-U.S. distributors, so as to get on non-U.S. price lists. European markets, it’s worth pointing out, are not so heavily impacted, as the tariffs are limited to a 25 percent increase on non-USMCA goods (more on that below). But that’s not really a solution for a domestic company, as it still means 25 percent higher costs and, as Stegmaier pointed out, 65 percent of his company’s sales take place within the U.S.

And some in the industry are also very upset about the timing. It’s possible, for games still in design or early in production, to go back and work within new budgets. But if the goods have already been manufactured and are in the process of being shipped from China, it’s far too late to avoid those tariffs. Chris Solis, head of California-based game studio Solis Game Studio, tweeted that he was “a week from having 8,000 games leave a factory in China” and now had to “scramble to cover import bill.”

The Industry Mobilizes

The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the group that represents board game publishers, has been meeting with industry representatives and Congress members to lobby against the tariff. So far, they have been largely unsuccessful.

In the meantime, though, it’s a shock to the industry. An industry that’s built on joy, creativity, and community now faces a very uncertain future.