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Amid concerns over the environment and the future of cybersecurity, one of the biggest impacts following the rapid rise of AI relates to memory production as this has caused a dramatic spike in costs that the gaming industry could struggle to recover from.
There have already been numerous price hikes off the back of this, with Xbox this week outlining exactly how AI has forced their hand and the worst is yet to come, leaving people wondering if gaming will ever be truly affordable again.
It's not just consoles that have faced the brunt of this either, as the 'RAMmageddon' has arguably hit the PC market the hardest, with both DDR4 and DDR5 sticks rising in price by at least 200 to 300% in most cases.
While it seems bad enough now, it appears as if we're only at the beginning of what continues to be a troubling time for memory shortages, with industry experts indicating that AI data centers are consuming 70 per cent of all high-end memory chips currently available on the market.
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As reported by TechRadar, analysis conducted by Counterpoint Research earlier this year pointed towards an increase in memory prices of around 40% to 50% by the end of Q1 (March), and now that we're at the end of June it's safe to say that unfortunately came true.
Microsoft has suggested that prices could double again by the start of next year, and that unfortunately will inevitably get passed down onto consumers at a time when many people are already struggling financially.
We're at a point when, for the first time in history, consoles are more expensive at the end of the generational cycle than when they launched – with Microsoft in particular increasing the amount of money you have to spend on its games consoles by at least 60%.
This is far from just a gaming issue though – although you could argue that the industry has been disproportionately impacted due to the comparative hardware demands – as pretty much any form of technology requires memory somewhere, so prices have either gone up or are expected to increase across the board.
Apple, for example, just revealed jaw-dropping price hikes across most of its flagship products, and some industry experts are worried that budget phones – like affordable gaming – will soon be a thing of the past.
With AI only continuing to expand in size and capability, there will continue to be an overwhelming demand for existing memory that manufacturers simply cannot keep up with and supply the consumer market at the same time.
"The worst thing is that they are building so many of these massive data centers," writes one comment fearful of further price increases, "and they'll all be constantly refreshed with newer hardware so prices will never go back down."
Another added that they're "say[ing] goodbye to gaming as an up-to-date hobby," adding that what they have already will "just have to last the same amount again or however long it takes for things to recover."
That point might never come though – at least according to new frightening predictions from computing giant Lenovo – who, as per Trusted Reviews, believe the current state of the market is simply a 'new normal' that will persist forever.
Lenovo has argued that RAM prices "will never be like last year again," adding that even if cost could stabilize by around 2030, it will be impossible for prices to return to unusually low levels that we witnessed in 2024 and 2025.
