Epic Games CEO: RAM price increases a 'real problem for high-end gaming for several years'

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has some words of reckoning in regards to skyrocketing RAM prices, where he says that they will be a "real problem" for the high-end gaming market for "several years" to come.

We have all seen the explosive uptick in RAM prices over the last few weeks and months, with the AI race being blamed as companies are gobbling up as much high-end GPU technology it can, and all of them come with copious amounts of RAM (GDDR7 and HBM3, HBM3E, and HBM4).

Sweeney posted on X, where he said: "RAM price increases will be a real problem for high-end gaming for several years. Factories are diverting leading edge DRAM capacity to meet AI needs where data centers are bidding far higher than consumer device makers".

• Read more: SK hynix to boost DRAM production by 8x in 2026, still not enough
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• Read more: Samsung has reportedly raised DDR5 chip prices by 60% because of AI shortages

This is without all of the other technology on the market with DRAM inside, so virtually everything you can think of from smartphones, laptops, consoles, gaming PCs, TVs, and everything in between. RAM prices have increased by up to a depressing 500%+ on some large DDR5 memory kits, with no signs of slowing down.

In an article from just yesterday, we were comparing that 64GB of DDR5 memory now costs more than a PlayStation 5 console, especially when you consider 64GB DDR5 RAM was only $150 a couple of months ago, blowing up to $500+ is quite alarming, meaning anyone wanting to upgrade has missed the boat in terms of cheap DDR5 RAM pricing, but also the future of building and upgrading PC systems is going to be much more expensive.

And it's not just the RAM market... but graphics cards, consoles, Valve's exciting new Steam Machine... anything with DRAM inside is going to be more expensive. We can expect higher prices on anything with DRAM inside of them starting in 2026, with AMD AIB partner PowerColor even recently saying that NOW is the time to buy, as graphics cards will be more expensive next year.