Arduboy creator says his tiny Game Boy won’t survive Trump’s tariffs

is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget. Kevin Bates managed quit his day job and move to China after his game-playing business card, the Arduboy, went viral in 2014. But a decade later, Trump’s staggering and inexplicable new US tariffs are driving him out of business. Just as he was about to turn a profit for the first time, just before he was about to bring a new product to retail, he tells The Verge that his company can no longer survive as-is. He says that despite lifetime Arduboy sales of over $1 million, much of it from recent growth in 2023 and 2024, Trump’s new 104 percent China tariffs will be the beginning of the end. “I just like making circuit boards and helping people learn to code games. This is all too much,” he says. Even if he wanted to — Bates admits he’s been looking to sunset Arduboy for a while — he says he wouldn’t be able to satisfy Trump’s sta ... Read full article.