Playdate Creator Panic To Issue US Government Tariff Refunds To Customers

Unlike Nintendo, Playdate Makes The "Right Decision" By Passing Tariff Refunds On To Customers Panic Published Aug 27, 2026, 8:10 AM EDT Josh Coulson is an editor at TheGamer covering breaking news on everything from colorful platformers to the latest Lego sets. Primarily a news writer since 2018, Josh has covered just about every major game from the past decade. Now an editor, their focus has shifted to being the leading affiliate expert at the site, building relationships between TheGamer and global brands including Mattel, Funko, and The Pokemon Company. Sign in to your TheGamer account Millions of people, customers, and companies were affected by the tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump. It has since been decided that the imposition of those tariffs was illegal, and companies are being refunded billions for the money it cost them. That includes Playdate creator Panic, who, unlike most companies, has confirmed it will be passing those refunds onto affected customers. Panic Panic co-founder Cabel Sasser confirmed the good news in an email to Game Developer. “It's just not our money to keep, and it felt really good to give it back,” Sasser said. “That's an easy way to know you made the right decision.” It’s not clear just how much money will be refunded, but Panic was eventually forced to increase the price of the Playdate by 19% due to tariffs after initially trying to absorb the additional cost and avoid a price hike. If you bought any Playdate products during the period when tariffs forced them to become more expensive, then you should have received an email from Panic this week informing you of your refund. Countless companies are being issued refunds due to the additional costs they incurred thanks to the illegal tariffs. However, even though most of those companies helped balance that by charging more for their products, the majority have decided to keep the refunded money for themselves rather than give it back to their customers. Playdate Is Doing What Nintendon't Panic Nintendo is among the most high-profile of those companies in the gaming world that has decided against issuing refunds. It’s the way in which Nintendo callously replied to requests to pass on tariff refunds to customers, telling those who bought its products at that time that they “got what they bargained for”. Not only will Nintendo be keeping the $300 million refund it received from the US government, but the price hikes put in place to counterbalance the tariffs remain. Although refunding Playdate customers will be a headache, Panic seems to be one of the few companies that put measures in place for this eventuality. The additional cost added to purchases due to tariffs was listed as a line item on customer receipts. That will make issuing refunds significantly easier. Even though Nintendo didn’t do that, it did still know exactly how much extra it wanted to charge to deal with the cost of tariffs. That’s how it knew exactly how much it was owed when government refunds were announced. Playdate