Stonemaier Games are taking part in a group lawsuit with an unspecified number of other board game publishers.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how devastating an impact a 54% tariff on imports from China to the US would be on the particularly vulnerable tabletop gaming industry. Things were already looking pretty apocalyptic at that stage—but, of course, my article was already outdated within days, as the tariffs surged even higher. They currently stand at 145%, changing the outlook for the future from ‘selling board games will be extremely difficult’ to ‘selling board games will be nearly impossible’.
So much so that Stonemaier Games, publisher of smash hit board game Wingspan, is taking the fairly dramatic step of “suing the president” to try and change the course of the tariffs. The announcement doesn’t go into the specifics of the legal action being taken, but it’s a group lawsuit of some kind—and it sounds like a big group. Stonemaier initially invited other publishers to get in touch with them to join the suit, but has since updated the post to say that “the law firm has informed me that they now have as many clients as the case can handle”, though it continues to gather statements via an online form to further support the case.
The crux of Stonemaier’s argument is that it and other board game publishers ordered print runs of games to be manufactured in China before the tariffs came into effect, and now face unreasonable costs to import the finished products that they couldn’t have planned for ahead of time. It’s currently facing “nearly $1.5 million” in such fees.
It’s a problem that will be particularly stark for many Kickstarter projects, which may now be unable to complete as the cost of importing the goods grows beyond the money already pledged by backers.
How much good such a lawsuit can materially do is up in the air, however. Even in the best case scenario it’s hard not to imagine such a case taking years to bear any fruit in the courts—though perhaps if it brings together enough companies, it may serve its purpose just as a clear act of protest against the government’s actions.
Meanwhile, the creators of Gloomhaven have announced that its second edition is on hold due to the tariffs, and the company’s future uncertain; Van Ryder Games has announced immediate price increases on its popular Final Girl series; and many other publishers continue to post deeply concerned and uncertain updates and blogs, reflecting on a future that seems guaranteed to simply gut the tabletop games industry if the situation does not change.
At least recent comments from Trump himself have offered a sliver of hope—he’s said to reporters that he plans to be “very nice” to China and that tariffs with “drop substantially—but it won’t be zero”. As ever though we have no timetable for that or clarity on what the final situation is likely to be, and the industry will certainly be hoping for a decrease of over 100% to be able to move forward with any confidence.
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