The Death of Physical Media Creeps Ever Closer, as Reported Tariffs Could Cause Higher Prices and Lower Production

I guess it was maybe a good thing that the PlayStation 5 Pro didn’t come with a disk drive. It seems like if tariffs are enacted, physical media is going to take the brunt of the damage. Plenty of games, movies, and more are printed in Mexico, and with a proposed tariff of 25% being tacked onto shipments, supplies may become more limited than ever. That, and we’ll likely see the price of upcoming games jump even higher than $70.

Tariffs Likely Won’t Just Affect Games, but Consoles in the Future, Too

Mat Piscatella, Executive Director & Video Game Industry Analyst at Circana, took to BlueSky to talk about the purported tariffs and how they could affect our favorite hobby. Not only is it looking like the proposed 25% Tariff to Mexico will lead to essentials going up in price, but things like physical games may slowly start to taper down in production. Some folks speculated about a digital future, but I didn’t think this was in the cards. Piscatella started off the thread by stating the following:

Alright, well, video games.With 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico on the way, I can see a sharp downtick in the number of disc-based games that get released physically in the US, as much of that production infrastructure is in Mexico.If they do get made, I expect higher prices both phys & dig.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-01-21T14:38:47.618Z

Unfortunately, as we’ve seen for a few console generations now, price parity has been a thing for a while now. And if physical media is going to see a price increase, digital will likely also follow suit. I guess it’s time to take advantage of those pre-order prices now, players. Tariffs could cause things to get bumpy here in the future. Piscatella followed up on his initial post with the following:

I would, were this to happen, anticipate digital MSRPs to increase to remain at price parity with physical, but who knows.In any case, none of this is good for the physical video game market.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-01-21T14:40:51.504Z

And while I know it’s pertinent that jobs shift to the United States, it seems like this is a “too little, too late” type of situation. As Piscatella mentions in another follow-up:

'Can't that production just be moved to the US?'With significant investment, sure. But annual US physical video game software spending is now half what it was in 2021 and declining rapidly.And this also wouldn't help when it comes to costs.Not a good combo to incentive that investment. IMO.

— Mat Piscatella (@matpiscatella.bsky.social) 2025-01-21T14:45:38.894Z

So, what does that mean for those buying new games and consoles in the future? In a world where Grand Theft Auto 6 will reportedly retail for nearly $100 due to the amount of content, things aren’t looking good for our favorite hobby at the moment. Unfortunately, we’ll just need to see how things pan out over the coming months, but it may not hurt to stock up during the next big Steam Sale.