The AI boom is creating unexpected headaches for game developers. Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke revealed in a December 2025 interview with TheGamer that unprecedented RAM and SSD price increases are forcing the studio to optimize its upcoming Divinity game during early access, work the team never planned to tackle at this stage of development. The memory shortage, driven by artificial intelligence companies hoarding supplies for data centers, has sent prices spiraling to levels that even experienced industry veterans find shocking.
The Scale of the Price Explosion
To understand how bad things have gotten, consider that a single stick of high-end RAM now costs more than an entire PlayStation 5 console. Framework, a company known for modular laptops, raised its memory prices by 50 percent and warned that further increases are likely coming. Kingston reported seeing a staggering 246 percent increase in NAND wafer prices, with the biggest spike happening within the last 60 days. One PC enthusiast on Reddit mentioned buying 192GB of DDR5 RAM in early 2024 for around $300 per kit. Checking the same configuration today revealed prices had jumped to $842 per kit, nearly tripling in less than two years.
Vincke didn’t mince words when describing the situation. He told TheGamer that prices for memory and storage are just crazy, destroying all their hardware requirement forecasts. Normally, Larian knows the trends and can navigate them when planning development. But the current situation is completely unpredictable, leaving the studio unable to accurately plan for what consumers will be able to afford or what their own development hardware will cost.
Why AI Is Eating All The Memory
The culprit behind this mess is straightforward. Artificial intelligence companies need massive amounts of memory to train and run large language models and other AI systems. Data centers dedicated to AI processing require specialized high-bandwidth memory (HBM) alongside traditional DRAM. Manufacturing HBM consumes significantly more production capacity than standard RAM. According to NAND Research, the wafer capacity consumed by HBM exceeds that of standard DRAM by a factor of three, meaning factories can produce far less total memory when prioritizing AI chips.
Silicon Motion CEO Wallace C. Kou described the situation during an earnings call as unprecedented. He stated they’re facing what has never happened before, with HDD, DRAM, HBM, and NAND all in severe shortage simultaneously heading into 2026. Most of their manufacturing capacity is already sold out. Kou clarified that while memory makers will balance allocation between smartphones, PCs, and automotive industries, the majority will go to AI and AI servers. Unless the AI bubble pops or future models become drastically more memory-efficient, this shortage shows no signs of ending soon.
Real World Impact on Gaming Hardware
These price increases threaten the entire gaming ecosystem. Console manufacturers face difficult decisions about whether to absorb costs or pass them along to consumers. The Xbox Series X has already seen price increases in some regions, and further hikes appear likely. Predictions suggest the next generation of consoles may launch with only 16GB of RAM instead of the 24GB or 32GB that would better serve game development, simply because manufacturers can’t justify the cost.
How This Changes Game Development
For Larian specifically, the memory shortage forces optimization work that typically happens later in development cycles. Early access releases usually focus on getting core gameplay functional while accepting that performance isn’t fully optimized. Developers then spend post-launch months refining efficiency as they gather player feedback and hardware data. Being forced to optimize early means diverting resources from content creation and feature development to technical work that doesn’t directly improve the player experience.
Vincke’s frustration is understandable because this represents wasted effort in a sense. If memory prices were normal, Larian could design the game assuming reasonable hardware specifications, then optimize later once they understand actual player configurations. Instead, they’re preemptively cutting memory usage to ensure the game runs on systems they anticipate players will actually own, given that RAM upgrades have become prohibitively expensive. This conservative approach might leave performance headroom unused on higher-end systems while limiting what the game can achieve technically.
The Baldur’s Gate 3 Optimization Example
Larian has proven expertise at optimization when necessary. During Baldur’s Gate 3’s Xbox Series S port development, the team showcased impressive memory reduction results. Between September and November 2023, they reduced general game RAM usage from 5.2GB to 4.7GB, a 10 percent drop. More impressively, VRAM usage plummeted from 3.5GB to 2.3GB, a massive 34 percent reduction. These optimizations made the difference between the Series S version being possible or impossible.
The difference with the new Divinity game is timing. With Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian optimized after release to reach specific platforms. With Divinity, they’re being forced to optimize from the beginning because they can’t predict what hardware landscape will exist when the game launches. This defensive development approach wastes resources if memory prices eventually normalize, but becomes essential if shortages persist or worsen.
Industry Wide Consequences
Larian isn’t suffering alone. Dell CEO Jeff Clarke stated the company would do what it can to minimize impact but acknowledged that cost increases affect all products. HP mentioned they’d either raise prices or reduce the amount of memory included in devices. PC manufacturers face impossible choices between making hardware less capable or pricing products beyond what consumers will pay. Gaming laptops, which already commanded premium prices, may become luxury items accessible only to wealthy enthusiasts.
The silver lining, if there is one, comes from forced optimization spreading across the industry. When developers must squeeze performance from limited RAM, everyone benefits from more efficient code. Games that run well on modest hardware reach larger audiences and extend the useful life of existing gaming PCs. This could partially offset the disappointment of stagnant hardware specifications in the next console generation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are RAM and SSD prices increasing so dramatically?
AI companies are consuming massive quantities of memory for data centers and machine learning applications. Manufacturing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI uses three times the production capacity of standard RAM, creating severe shortages of consumer memory products.
How long will the memory shortage last?
Industry analysts predict shortages will persist through 2026 at minimum. The situation could improve if AI demand slows or if future AI models require less memory, but neither scenario appears likely in the near term.
Will this affect the next Xbox and PlayStation consoles?
Almost certainly. Memory costs may force console manufacturers to include less RAM than originally planned, potentially sticking with 16GB instead of upgrading to 24GB or 32GB. This would limit technical capabilities for the entire console generation.
How much have RAM prices increased?
Prices vary by product type, but some configurations have nearly tripled in price over the past two years. Framework raised memory prices 50 percent with warnings of further increases. Kingston reported 246 percent increases in NAND wafer prices.
What is Larian doing about memory price increases?
The studio is optimizing the new Divinity game during early access to reduce memory requirements, work they didn’t originally plan to do at this stage. This ensures the game runs on hardware players can actually afford given current memory costs.
Should I upgrade my gaming PC RAM now or wait?
Prices are unlikely to decrease significantly in the near future. If you need more RAM and can afford current prices, buying now makes sense. Waiting in hopes of price drops could mean waiting years with no guarantee of improvement.
Can anything stop the memory shortage?
Yes, if the AI boom slows or if manufacturers significantly expand production capacity. However, building new fabrication facilities takes years and costs billions, so supply-side solutions won’t arrive quickly.
Does this affect mobile gaming too?
Absolutely. Smartphones use LPDDR memory that faces the same shortage issues. Mobile device manufacturers are balancing whether to include less RAM, raise prices, or absorb costs themselves.
The Waiting Game
Larian’s situation illustrates how deeply technology supply chains impact creative industries. Game developers need to predict hardware landscapes years in advance when planning ambitious projects. Unexpected cost explosions can invalidate those plans, forcing reactive changes that waste time and money. The memory crisis represents the intersection of multiple industries competing for limited manufacturing capacity, with gaming consistently losing priority battles against AI, enterprise computing, and mobile devices that command higher profit margins. Whether memory prices eventually normalize or represent the new reality remains uncertain. For now, developers like Larian must adapt by optimizing earlier, planning conservatively, and hoping that forced efficiency doesn’t come at the cost of creative ambition. The next few years will test whether the gaming industry can maintain technical progress while navigating the most severe memory shortage in modern computing history.