Thought gaming was already an expensive hobby? (Getty/Microsoft/Sony/Metro)The physical video games market may come to an end even sooner than expected, as US President Donald Trump threatens tariffs on Mexico.Now that Donald Trump has once again been inaugurated as the president of the US hes already talking about tariffs against countries including Mexico and Canada, and that could have a serious effect on the video games industry.He previously threatened tariffs against China too, which the games industry soon realised would potentially make consoles and games more expensive, with business experts saying it would only hasten the death of the physical games market.Its possible companies like Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony will successfully lobby for an exemption on electronic goods (as they did once before), but so far Trump hasnt confirmed that the Chinese tariffs will go ahead but they will for Mexico and Canada.now Trump is threatening tariffs on Mexico as well, which analyst Matt Piscatella believes will lead to less physical releases in the US.As reported by the BBC, Trump told Oval Office reporters that he could force tariffs upwards of 25% on imports from Mexico, as well as Canada, as early as February 1 unless they take stronger measures to prevent illegal migrants and drugs from entering the US.In a recent Bluesky thread, Piscatella points out that this will have a knock-on effect on physical video games since much of that production infrastructure is in Mexico.Piscatella believes this could result in a sharp downtick in the number of disc-based games released in the US, and most certainly further incentivise increasing prices for both physical and digital games.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) 2025-01-21T14:38:47.618ZPiscatella does acknowledge the hypothetical possibility of moving production to the US, but this wouldnt solve the issue since annual US physical video game software spending is now half what it was in 2021 and declining rapidly.More TrendingTheres no telling if this will have wider ramifications for the games market in the UK or elsewhere in the world, but it doesnt look good from a consumer or preservationist standpoint.According to the Financial Times, Mexicos president Claudia Sheinbaum has responded to Trumps threats by saying, We will defend our sovereignty, and Its always important to have a cool head and refer to the decrees rather than the discourse.As for the aforementioned tariffs for China, those are dependent on whether Chinese company ByteDance agrees to sell at least half of TikToks ownership to a US company, which is also a stipulation for Trumps removal of the TikTok ban that was signed off by the Biden administration.Trumps inauguration took place on January 20 and aside from his other radical executive orders, the conversation has been dominated by arguments over whether Elon Musk did a Nazi salute. The Switch 2s lack of price point could be because Nintendos waiting to see if these tariffs go through (YouTube)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy