PlayStation And Xbox Adopt Nintendo's Controversial Tariff Refund Strategy

Published Sep 3, 2026, 7:38 AM EDT When times are tough, the cost of doing business is passed onto the consumer. When times are not-so-tough... actually, everything stays much the same. Gaming was hardly an affordable hobby to get into at the start of this console generation, but with parts shortages, the rise of AI, and US tariffs driving prices up beyond our wildest nightmares, it's only gotten worse. However, with the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump's tariffs were illegal, any company affected by them was able to request refunds. That would have included the industry giants, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo. The only problem is that, while they were happy to pass the additional costs down to consumers, they are absolutely not willing to do the same thing with the refunds. Xbox And PlayStation Say You Paid A Fair Price For Hardware After The Trump Tariffs As reported by Game File, Microsoft and Sony are in court, defending themselves against the prospect of refunding their customers for the extra costs they incurred thanks to Trump's tariffs. Their arguments were made in two separate lawsuits. Microsoft's lawyers were responding to a case brought about by a customer in Washington. "There is nothing unjust about Plaintiff purchasing an Xbox at an advertised price and getting exactly what he paid for - regardless of whatever theory he devised months later about Microsoft's cost structure," says Microsoft's lawyers. Sony makes a similar case in its own lawsuit, brought about by a group of gamers: "Paying fair market price for voluntarily purchased consumer goods is not a legally cognisable injury in fact." The argument hinges upon how neither company specifically named the tariffs as the reason for the price hike, meaning they can argue that the costs were not directly put on the consumer. However, there were price increases around this time, with the vague justification of "market conditions" provided as the reason. Many would argue that the tariffs made up those market conditions. This is a similar strategy adopted by Nintendo, which is also refusing to hand over any refunds it's received to its customers. Meanwhile, some companies argue that they are using their refunds to lower prices, indirectly giving back to customers, even if it doesn't make up for what they've already purchased. A limited number of companies are indeed offering refunds to customers, such as Playdate. In the meantime, those of us in the gaming community can expect prices to just keep going up, as the RAMpocalypse ruins everything. Date Founded May 7, 1946 Subsidiaries Sony Pictures, Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Imagesoft, Sony Online Entertainment Consoles PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PSP Headquarters Minato City, Tokyo, Japan Known For PlayStation