Next-Gen GPUs Face Memory Costs and Delayed Launch Concerns

The next generation of gaming hardware faces questions about release timing, memory capacity, development targets, and pricing. With new GPUs potentially delayed and next-generation consoles potentially arriving later than expected, developers and hardware makers may have to work within current hardware limits for longer.

The question is whether delaying new GPUs and next-generation consoles is actually a bad thing. Toward the end of a console generation, developers generally produce more impressive games as they better understand the hardware. That could mean only GTA 6 really comes close to maxing out the console's potential.

Delayed Hardware Could Extend the Current Console Generation

The question is whether current-generation consoles still have more performance available or whether the lack of native ML upscaling and weaker RT compared to PC creates a bigger difference than in previous generations. Current NVIDIA and AMD cards seem fairly decent to excellent overall, with the biggest issue being VRAM on lower-spec cards.

If next-generation cards launch this year or next, the question is whether they'll still come with 8GB or 12GB because of RAM costs. There is also an argument that, especially given the current economic outlook, sticking with current hardware for another year or two could allow more money to go to games.

If the next generation offers diminishing returns, delaying hardware could make more sense. Another question is whether to wait longer for the PS6 and Rubin/RDNA5 rather than releasing products that the mass market could reject as overpriced or nerfed to control costs.

The current outlook challenges the assumption that waiting a sufficient period of time will automatically resolve the hardware situation. Every indication suggests the situation may not improve and could worsen over the next year or two.

New GPUs are also about ray tracing and neural rendering

Consoles will have to find some way around the situation regardless, whether that means managing costs or nerfing specifications. The discussion around potential new GPUs from AMD and Nvidia is also less about simply wanting new hardware and more specifically about the difficulty of running certain high-end ray-traced experiences.

Games such as 007 First Light can be challenging to run on PC hardware, even on mid-spec systems. Part of that is RAM, but it is also about the difficulty of running ray-tracing workloads and, in the future, neural rendering workloads. Those are major issues on PC specifically.

If hardware is delayed, it is not necessarily a major issue. The same applies to delayed consoles. Games such as GTA 6 could still work as cross-generation titles, and game quality doesn't necessarily come down to optimization alone.