Gamers Sue Nintendo Over Alleged Tariff Refund Misuse, Seeking Consumer Compensation

Two gamers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Nintendo of America, alleging the company plans to keep tariff refunds it receives from the U.S. government rather than refunding money to consumers who were overcharged due to tariffs on imported products.

The lawsuit, filed on June 11, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, seeks to represent a class of U.S. residents who purchased Nintendo products between February 2025 and February 2026. The plaintiffs are Gregory Hoffert of California and Prashant Sharan of Washington.

Allegations: Nintendo Profiting Twice from Tariffs

The complaint, filed by the law firm Emery | Reddy, PC, argues that Nintendo has not committed to returning tariff-related overcharges to consumers. It states:

"Unless restrained by this Court, Nintendo stands to recover the same tariff payments twice—once from consumers through higher prices and again from the federal government through tariff refunds, including interest paid by the government on those funds. Nintendo has made no legally binding commitment to return tariff-related overcharges to the consumers who actually paid them."

Consumer Impact and Legal Claims

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs and class members "paid retail prices for those goods that were increased by Nintendo to account for the tariffs imposed on imported products" and "would not have paid those higher prices absent the unlawful tariffs and Nintendo’s pass-through of those tariffs to consumers."

The lawsuit seeks to prevent Nintendo from retaining these refunds and to compel the company to return the overcharges to affected consumers.