Shares of Japanese publishers decline amid tariff uncertainty

Global financial markets are experiencing fluctuations following the announcement of tariffs by Donald Trump, the President of the United States. Japanese gaming firms have seen notable declines in their stock values today.

The Nikkei 225 index in Japan observed a 7% decrease in early trading today, continuing from a 9% reduction last week, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Several game publishers in Japan were affected. Nintendo's stock decreased by 7.85%, Capcom's by 6.61%, Square Enix's by 5.62%, Bandai Namco's by 7.37%, Konami's by 5.19%, and Sony's experienced a larger drop at 10.04%.

This decline in stock prices among gaming companies was highlighted by Dr. Serkan Toto of Kantan Games.

In the United States, NASDAQ-listed companies Electronic Arts and Take-Two Interactive have both seen their share prices dip by single-digit percentages since the start of April.

Similarly, on the London Stock Exchange, shares of Everplay Group, the owner of Team17, and Frontier Developments have faced declines.

According to Reuters, the FTSE 100 in the UK has plummeted to its lowest point in almost 14 months.

Wall Street in the US had its most challenging week since the 2020 pandemic's onset, and the market continues to show instability as noted by The Independent.

Trump's 'base' tariffs of 10% on US imports started on April 5, with higher, country-specific tariffs scheduled to begin on April 9.

As a direct consequence, the pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the US have been temporarily postponed, as it is produced in tariff-affected countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia.