Kevin Rountree, the chief executive of Games Workshop, thought the company’s latest update would be drama-free. “How wrong I was,” he said on Monday, as the Warhammer maker disclosed it paid £12m in US tariffs during the last financial year – and expects to hand over £13m in the 2026-27 period.
The higher bill comes despite a Supreme Court ruling that declared Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariffs unlawful. Games Workshop managed to reclaim £7.8m of the levies it paid up to February 2026, Rountree explained: “Following the US Supreme Court ruling we reclaimed £7.8 million of tariffs for the period to February 2026.”
“Games Workshop reclaimed £7.8m in US tariffs after Supreme Court ruling.”
The tariff hit coincided with a sharp drop in licensing revenue, which fell from £52.5m to £32.9m – a decline the company said was in line with expectations after the bumper launch of Space Marine 2 the previous year. Shares in the company, a stock market darling in recent years, fell 2.8% in London trading on Monday.
Investors will now be watching whether Games Workshop can offset the rising tariff burden – and whether further US trade policy shifts bring more drama.