As with so many other companies, including video game console makers, Panic increased the price of its Playdate handheld when US President Donald Trump implemented sweeping tariffs. When those tariffs were deemed unlawful and refunds become available to companies, most kept the money for themselves--but Panic has now confirmed it will be passing those refunds on to customers.

Word of the refunds was emailed out to impacted customers recently. In the email, Panic explained how it had charged extra to compensate for its increased costs due to the tariffs, and that it had now received refunds from the government. With that money secured, it's automatically refunding the tariff amount--$12.36--to anyone who paid that surcharge, and the money should automatically end up in their accounts within the next few days.

This move is in marked contrast to companies like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft, among others. Although many companies have sidestepped addressing the possibility of tariff refunds directly, there have been instances of them touting the impact of those refunds on their financials: both Sony and Nintendo highlighted the positive impact on their revenue from suddenly having a bunch of free money show up in their bank accounts. 

The lack of refunds has led to class-action lawsuits that remain undecided. Nintendo, for its part, claimed in a court filing that it only imposed "modest and selective price adjustments," highlighting that it avoided increasing the Switch 2 price last year. “Nintendo or one of its retailers set a price for each product, and consumers decided whether that price was worth paying,” Nintendo said.

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