Memory shortage pushes up PS5, Xbox, Switch 2 and Steam Machine prices — and relief is not coming soon

Gaming got more expensive in 2026 — and the reason is the same on every platform: the global memory shortage. The artificial intelligence race for DRAM and NAND memory chips led Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron to shift production toward AI data centers, and what was left for consoles, handheld PCs and phones got more expensive. The result is on the shelves: PS5, Xbox Series X, Switch 2 and even the newly launched Steam Machine now cost far more than at launch.

How much consoles cost now

Current US prices, compiled in a roundup updated on November 9, 2026, show the scale of the increases:

Three of the four major console platforms raised prices in 2026 for the same reason — and rival companies that do not coordinate pricing reaching the same decision is itself a sign that the input-cost story is real.

The shortage did not start in gaming. It started in data centers: AI accelerators need huge amounts of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) to train and run models. Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron — the three companies that make almost all of the world's DRAM — shifted fab capacity toward HBM, used by Nvidia and other AI chipmakers, at the expense of commodity DDR5 and NAND flash in consoles and PCs. According to FusionWW, HBM already consumed 23% of DRAM wafers in 2026.

• DRAM prices rose about 170% over 2025, according to industry trackers, and NAND flash contract prices jumped more than 60% in a single month, in November 2025.
• A 32 GB DDR5 PC kit cost about $95 in the summer of 2025 and passed $400 in September 2026; Tom's Hardware tracking cited by GameIsWave put the cheapest kits at about $450 in mid-October, against $100 to $200 a year earlier.
• Goldman Sachs projected in May 2026 a global DRAM deficit of 4.9% for the year — the widest in 15 years.
• TrendForce estimates memory now accounts for 23% to 42% of a console's component costs, against around 15% historically.
• Microsoft was direct when it announced the Xbox increase: according to the company, console memory and storage prices have risen more than 2.5 times, and it expects another doubling by the fall of 2027.

“Ram Altman”: the controversy that became a meme on X

Classification: STATEMENT. On October 29, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in an interview on Cheeky Pint, hosted by Stripe co-founder John Collison, that keeping DRAM idle in home PCs is a “terrible” allocation of the limited supply — in his words, “it's terrible to have everybody have a bunch of the world's limited supply of DRAM sitting in their own computer, and being used 5% of the time.” The remark set off a wave of memes among gamers, and on November 4 Altman replied on X saying his words had been taken out of context, that he wants the world to have plenty of memory and people to put as much as they want in their computers — and he even changed his own name on X to “Ram Altman” amid the backlash. The episode did not create the crisis, but it became its public symbol: every price increase in this article was already in effect before the statement, and none of them has come back down since.

No relief on the horizon

Industry forecasts offer little hope of a price drop soon. SK Hynix said in its third-quarter results on October 28 that the structural memory shortage should last until 2030 — more than half of the company's production capacity for 2027 and 2028 is already committed to long-term contracts, mostly with AI customers. Micron said it has already committed more than 75% of its 2027 output, and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told investors on the September 30 earnings call that demand will exceed supply in 2027 and 2028, with tighter conditions than in 2026. Kearney projects a full recovery only in 2030, and Micron itself indicates its new capacity will only reach meaningful volume from the third quarter of 2028.

What this means for players

The timing stings: GTA 6 arrives on November 19, 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and playing the year's biggest launch will cost more than it would have a year ago — a pricier console, pricier memory and no sign of a drop. On Nintendo's side there is a counterpoint: according to reports, company president Shuntaro Furukawa said on November 5 that Nintendo is not considering another Switch 2 price change and can secure enough memory. Even so, with memory makers prioritizing AI data centers, pressure on gaming prices should continue — and the next generation of consoles may be born even more expensive.

Featured image: an SK Hynix DDR5 memory module on display at Computex 2025. Photo: 4300streetcar, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 license.

Sources

• Tech Insider — RAM Shortage 2026: AI Chips Hit 5 Gaming Platforms' Prices
• Inven Global — Price Pressures on Consoles and PCs to Continue as SK Hynix Forecasts Memory Shortage Until 2030
• Windows Forum — Why Xbox and PS5 Prices Keep Rising: AI Memory Demand and the End of Console Price Cuts
• GameIsWave — Sam Altman says your idle RAM is 'terrible'. Gamers disagree
• MindCron — Micron Books 75% of 2027 RAM Output

Transparency: this article was produced with the help of artificial intelligence, based on cross-checking public posts on X and sources from the internet. The facts were verified against the original sources listed above — please consult them for more details. Statements, rumors and speculation are identified as such throughout the text.

By Muse