Trump's Tariffs Cause Stocks in Japanese Video Game Companies to Collapse

Stocks in practically all major Japanese video game companies have been torpedoed by US president Donald Trump’s tariffs.

At the time of writing, Sony is down by as much as 13% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, but Nintendo is following a similar trajectory.

As we publish this, Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark is down 6% overall, and it’s a similar story in other Asian countries, like South Korea, Taiwan, and China.

Asia is obviously a big manufacturer of the goods sold globally, so will be hit particularly hard by the American government’s proposed tariffs, which will see items imported into the country subjected to fines of up to 50%.

As many Asian countries acknowledged public holidays towards the tail end of last week, today’s “bloodbath” is considered a recalibration of the markets, as investors catch up to the falls felt in the west on Friday.

When it comes to gaming specifically, forward thinking from Sony is expected to shield the PS5 from any price increases temporarily, as it doubled its supply chain and stockpiled inventory prior to the tariffs in order to give itself a buffer.

But if the chaos continues then it’s highly likely the console will be impacted eventually. Nintendo has already paused pre-orders on its upcoming Switch 2 in the US, with some speculating a price hike could occur prior to release.

Of course, video games may be the least of the world’s worries if this continues.

According to the BBC, banking giant Goldman Sachs estimates a US recession is 45% likely to occur in the next 12 months – up from its previous prediction of 35%.