Overview
- Nintendo filed a motion on Monday asking a federal judge to dismiss the April class-action complaint and asking the court to compel arbitration for at least one plaintiff.
- The suit, filed by Gregory Hoffert and Prashant Sharan, seeks refunds for U.S. buyers who purchased Nintendo products between February 2025 and February 2026 after the company raised prices during the tariff period.
- Nintendo tells the court it made modest, selective price adjustments, absorbed tariff costs on some products and that price decisions also reflected memory, labor and shipping costs rather than a straight tariff surcharge.
- No court has yet ruled on whether companies must pass government-issued tariff refunds on to consumers, and the Nintendo case joins more than 100 similar consumer actions nationwide that raise questions about arbitration clauses and legal theories like unjust enrichment.
- If courts let the cases proceed, outcomes will turn on proof that tariffs were directly passed through to buyers and on enforceability of contracts and arbitration terms, which will determine whether consumers can recover any portion of refunded duties.