2025-11-26 07:00:46
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has issued a blunt warning about the skyrocketing cost of RAM, saying the surge – driven by the AI boom – could squeeze high-end gaming hardware for years.
Prices for the memory chips have exploded in recent weeks, with consumer-grade DDR5 kits jumping as much as 110 per cent month-over-month.
The spike isn’t coming from gamers, console makers, or PC enthusiasts, but from hyperscalers racing to fuel AI infrastructure.
On X, Sweeney wrote: “RAM price increases will be a real problem for high-end gaming for several years.”
The Fortnite studio boss added that chip fabs are diverting top-tier DRAM capacity to AI data centers, where companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Oracle are outbidding traditional consumer manufacturers.
Backed by government subsidies, massive loans, and national-security narratives, AI companies are flooding Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron with orders that consumer device makers simply can’t match.
This could result in potential shortages and long-term inflation in memory-dependent hardware across the board, from gaming PCs and consoles to laptops, TVs, and smartphones.
Some manufacturers anticipated the shockwave, as Microsoft is said to have stockpiled RAM for Xbox and Surface devices, insulating them from immediate fallout.
But supply buffers won’t last forever, and future production cycles could be impacted if prices continue climbing.
The fear in the gaming industry is clear: as AI accelerators feast on global RAM supplies, the cost of building high-performance gaming hardware may rise sharply, hitting both consumers and developers.
With the AI race still intensifying and data-center demand showing no signs of slowing, Sweeney’s warning lands at a precarious moment.
Unless supply stabilises – or AI demand cools- RAM could become the next long-term bottleneck for gaming performance and hardware affordability.
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