Nintendo sued by fans seeking tariff refunds

Nintendo is currently facing a lawsuit from two fans who say the company’s tariff refunds from the U.S. government should be passed back to customers. Gregory Hoffert of California and Prashant Sharan of Washington have filed a class-action lawsuit, arguing that Nintendo should not be allowed to keep the benefit of those refunds after customers were hit with price increases tied to tariffs that raised the cost of Switch hardware and accessories over the past year.

Impact of tariffs on product prices

Hoffert and Sharan’s request is mainly focused on returning the refunds Nintendo receives from the U.S. government to consumers who paid higher prices. Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa previously confirmed that the increases in consumer prices were linked to the tariffs that were introduced. "Our basic policy is that, for any country or region where tariffs are imposed, we recognize them as part of the cost and reflect them in the price," Furukawa said in 2025.

Tariffs and lawsuits

Recently, Nintendo itself sued the U.S. government to seek refunds for what it considers improperly imposed tariffs. That follows a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, which determined that the tariffs, many of which were imposed during former President Trump’s term, were illegal. A group of more than 1,000 companies is now entitled to those refunds, which total roughly $160 billion.

A possible precedent

Hoffert and Sharan’s lawsuit could potentially set a precedent for other consumer legal actions against major companies such as Sony and Microsoft, which have also raised prices in recent years. If the court approves the case, other Nintendo customers who bought products in the past 12 months could also be eligible for a refund.

The lawsuit puts Nintendo under pressure to be more transparent about its pricing and finances after charging customers higher prices tied to tariffs. Nintendo has not officially responded to the complaint yet, but other companies such as FedEx and UPS have announced plans to compensate customers with the refunds they receive.