Panic Is Refunding Tariff Fees to Playdate Buyers
Nicole Carpenter and Diego Argüello, reporting for Game Developer: “There was a specific window of time this year where we charged tariffs to customers,” Panic co-founder Cabel Sasser explained in an e-mail to Game Developer confirming the news. “We tried absorbing the cost for a while, but that was financially difficult for a small company like ours. We made the tariff a very obvious and clearly…
Panic, a game development company, has begun returning tariff fees to consumers who purchased their games during a specific period this year. Cabel Sasser, co-founder of Panic, revealed this decision in an email to Game Developer. The company had initially absorbed the cost of the tariffs, but found it financially challenging for a small business. To ensure transparency, Panic clearly marked the tariff as a separate line item on the checkout page for affected customers.
A dedicated website was established to provide information about the 19% tariff surcharge. The refund amount varies depending on the customer's purchase. Sasser explained that the company did not keep this money, but felt it was appropriate to return it to customers. He added, "It's an easy way to know you made the right decision."
However, Sasser admitted that filing the necessary paperwork and setting up the system to process refunds was a significant undertaking. He expressed frustration at the amount of work required, comparing it to the efforts of larger companies in addressing this issue, which felt odd given Panic's size and direct impact from such policies. Despite these challenges, Sasser hopes Panic will never need to discuss tariffs again.
Written by urgent.news from Daring Fireball's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
