AI push adds strain to game hardware prices

Gaming is facing a broader affordability squeeze as memory demand tied to AI and datacenters reshapes hardware supply. Nvidia and AMD have reportedly raised graphics card prices, while memory makers Samsung, Micron and SK Hynix are described as directing substantial capacity toward AI infrastructure after earlier promises from AI companies to buy future chips. A class action lawsuit alleges price fixing among memory companies, though any resolution could take years.

The payoff for players remains mixed. Early industry pitches from Intel, AMD and Nvidia centered on more natural NPCs and smarter inventory systems, but the visible results have often been generative AI assets on Steam pages. AI upscaling has delivered clearer benefits, with Nvidia’s DLSS arriving with the RTX 2080 in 2018 and similar technologies later coming from AMD, Intel and Sony.

Newer features have proved more divisive. Nvidia added frame generation with the RTX 4090 in 2023, then pushed further with DLSS 5, which generates a new image from a rendered frame. Microsoft’s Gaming Copilot on the Xbox Ally X is portrayed as laggy and prone to outdated advice, reinforcing concerns that rising costs are arriving alongside tools players may not want.