For its first 30 years, Nvidia wasn’t a family title until you had been a gamer. Now, a few of its unique fan base really feel left behind as artificial intelligence has made the chipmaker the world’s most beneficial firm.
“The gaming section is not the driving pressure of the corporate. There was one level when it clearly was,” stated Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Analysis.
Nvidia popularized the graphics processing items, or GPUs, that allow quick body charges and rendering that make one of the best online game play doable.
When Nvidia launched its first GPU in 1999, the GeForce 256, it laid off nearly all of employees and approached chapter to make it occur. Avid gamers snapped up the brand new kind of processor, bringing Nvidia again from the brink.
Now, with demand for AI hovering, almost all of Nvidia’s income comes from its merchandise that serve that business, as an alternative of gaming. And as AI chipmaking shrinks the accessible reminiscence provide, Nvidia has been compelled to make robust selections about priorities.
In a memory-constrained actuality, it isn’t surprising that Nvidia would prioritize its much more worthwhile knowledge middle GPUs reminiscent of Hopper and Blackwell.
Nvidia’s working margins in its compute and networking section averaged 69% over the previous three years, in comparison with a 40% margin for the consumer-forward graphics section.
“I perceive that they are going to chase that. And that breaks my coronary heart,” stated Greg Miller, co-founder and host of standard online game podcast Kinda Funny Games Daily in an interview with CNBC.
“Dance with the one who introduced you. Avid gamers have introduced you this far,” Miller added.
If analyst predictions are appropriate, 2026 would be the first yr in three a long time that Nvidia does not launch a brand new era of its consumer-facing GeForce line of graphics processing items.
Avid gamers are “vastly essential” to Nvidia, in line with an e-mail the corporate despatched to CNBC, including that it is “at all times innovating, testing and releasing” new gaming-focused applied sciences.
The present RTX 50 collection of GeForce GPU was unveiled at CES in January 2025.
However with 2026 CES and GTC within the rearview mirror, some fear this would be the first yr with no new era, though Nvidia does generally reveal new {hardware} as late as September.
Whereas it represents a giant technique pivot, some players say it isn’t a nasty transfer for his or her budgets.
“It is form of arduous to maintain up. You’ll be able to’t improve each single yr, so having a little bit of a break and ready for a era to essentially matter I feel is definitely in service of the players on the market,” stated Tim Gettys, Miller’s co-founder of Kinda Humorous Video games.
AI earnings take over
Nvidia’s present period of AI dominance began 20 years in the past with the 2006 launch of its CUDA software program toolkit. All of a sudden, builders may use GPUs for general-purpose computing as an alternative of simply graphics.
Then, in 2012, Nvidia’s deep studying capabilities had been made clear throughout what many contemplate the large bang second for contemporary AI. Nvidia’s GPUs and CUDA had been used to construct a neural engine referred to as AlexNet that blew away the competitors throughout a outstanding picture recognition contest.
Though Nvidia did not cease making gaming GPUs, it signaled a brand new deal with GPUs for AI in 2020 when it purchased high-performance computing chipmaker Mellanox Technologies for $7 billion.
The corporate has been releasing new generations of high-end GPUs ever since, together with full rack-scale methods for AI workloads reminiscent of the brand new Vera Rubin platform, which CNBC received an exclusive first look at in February.
Nvidia does not reveal costs for its AI chips, however analysts say one Blackwell GPU prices as much as $40,000, whereas the Futurum Group estimates a full Vera Rubin system will value as much as $4 million.
In distinction, Nvidia sells its RTX 50-series gaming GPUs for between $299 to $1,999.
Throughout the cryptocurrency peaks of 2018 and 2021, Nvidia’s GPUs bought in on-line marketplaces for as much as 3 times itemizing value as a result of they had been as soon as key to mining Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Though costs fell when mining modified course in 2022, Nvidia’s present RTX 5090 GPU remains to be bought on-line for as much as double the retail value.
Loads of demand for final yr’s era could make Nvidia much less motivated to place out a brand new model this yr.
‘Arduous to get the reminiscence’
However the reminiscence scarcity is a extra seemingly offender for Nvidia’s gaming disadvantage.
Business reports recommend Nvidia has made plans to cut back manufacturing of its newest gaming GPUs by as much as 40% because it faces a significant scarcity of the general-purpose reminiscence that is obligatory for making a GPU.
Dynamic Random Entry Reminiscence, or DRAM, permits quick, momentary knowledge storage so the GPU can run parallel duties.
Private computer systems, the place Nvidia’s gaming GPUs find yourself, have borne the brunt of DRAM shortages. When reminiscence costs go up, manufacturing a GPU prices extra, and that value trickles right down to shoppers.
Gartner predicts PC costs will rise by 17% this yr, inflicting PC shipments to say no 10.4%.
“With how costly all of this has gotten, it is regarding to see costs go up on the gaming aspect with no indicators of ever coming again down, after which Nvidia clearly chasing a very totally different class of client,” Gettys stated.
If the entry-level client PC market disappears by 2028 as Gartner predicts, the marketplace for Nvidia’s entry-level gaming GPUs is prone to contract, too.
As a substitute, Nvidia is probably going saving restricted reminiscence stock for its greater value, greater margin AI chips.
“If there’s push-outs or delays on the gaming roadmap, it is in all probability largely that they in all probability cannot make the playing cards anyhow as a result of it is arduous to get the reminiscence,” Rasgon stated. “Each little bit of reminiscence that is on the market, I feel is admittedly getting prioritized to AI compute.”
Greater-performance GPUs like Blackwell and Rubin are lined with dense stacks of a selected kind of DRAM referred to as Excessive Bandwidth Reminiscence, or HBM. Rasgon stated it takes about 4 instances as many silicon wafers to make a gigabyte of HBM because it does to make the identical quantity of extra conventional kinds of DRAM.
“That dynamic is ravenous the general business of the kind of reminiscence that’s historically used for extra client kind purposes. It is simply not accessible,” Rasgon stated.
Nvidia advised CNBC that it is persevering with to ship all GeForce GPUs because it sees sturdy demand, and is working intently with suppliers to maximise reminiscence availability.
“In the event that they’re making 3 times the cash and the stockholders are 3 times happier, then yeah, I do suppose that they are going to abandon gaming regardless of it being what received them there,” Gettys stated.
‘Looks like a slap within the face’
CEO Jensen Huang did make a giant gaming announcement at first of his keynote handle at Nvidia’s annual GTC conference in March, however the gaming group was lower than enthused.
Huang introduced the subsequent era of its rendering software program referred to as Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling or DLSS, coming within the fall. It is well-known for enhancing body charges by rendering video games at decrease resolutions and utilizing AI to scale up the picture, serving to video games run extra easily on much less highly effective {hardware}.
The controversy with the brand new DLSS 5 is that players fear it makes use of generative AI to alter the look of the sport. Huang unveiled DLSS 5 with a sizzle reel of photorealistically enhanced variations of characters in standard video games reminiscent of Resident Evil Requiem, Starfield, and Hogwarts Legacy.
“I play video video games as a result of they’re an artwork kind. And so I prefer to see the thumbprint of the creator in what I am doing,” stated Miller of Kinda Humorous Video games. “That raised a variety of hair on a variety of necks within the online game business as we take care of so many layoffs, so many studio closures.”
Nvidia unveiled DLSS 5 at GTC on March 16, 2026, inflicting an uproar amongst players who stated the brand new Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling rendering software program used generative AI to alter the artwork of standard online game characters, like Grace Ashcroft in Resident Evil Requiem.
Nvidia
Because it grapples with a post-pandemic slowdown, the gaming business has seen studio closures, canceled games, and thousands of job cuts throughout giants like Epic Games, Microsoft’s Xbox, and Sony’s PlayStation.
Gettys was a fan of earlier variations of Nvidia’s DLSS for making gaming extra accessible on a decrease finances.
“The know-how is mind-blowing for what it may well do to make video games run on lower-end PCs,” he stated. “However then so as to add this generative AI stuff, it looks like a slap within the face.”
Gettys’ large worry is that this can be a step towards totally AI-generated video games, which he thinks is “100% the purpose.”
Elon Musk has already addressed the potential for it. In an October publish on X, Musk said his xAI game studio will launch “an amazing AI-generated sport” earlier than the top of 2026.
“You are actually altering the artwork created by the builders. After which at a sure level you are changing the builders after which their studio will get closed down,” Gettys stated.
Nvidia stated in an announcement to CNBC, “Video games are a artistic artform that give builders the chance to inform participating tales and immerse gamers in unimaginable worlds. Our RTX applied sciences are instruments that allow sport builders to attain their artistic imaginative and prescient – these embrace rendering methods reminiscent of ray tracing and path tracing, and people enhanced by AI, like DLSS Tremendous Decision, DLSS Body Era, and DLSS 5, all working collectively to supply one of the best efficiency and picture high quality.”
Throughout his GTC keynote, Huang stated AI goes to “revolutionize how laptop graphics is completed.”
In a question-and-answer session the subsequent day, Huang responded to assertions from the gaming group that DLSS 5 makes video games seem homogeneous.
“They’re utterly unsuitable,” Huang stated.
He emphasised that sport builders will nonetheless be in management, in a position to “fine-tune the generative AI” to match their type.
‘Clear favourite’
For over a decade, Nvidia has additionally supplied gaming within the cloud by a service referred to as GeForce NOW. The mannequin has developed to incorporate totally different subscription tiers — together with a free choice — that lets customers stream video games they personal on providers like Steam, working on Nvidia GPUs in knowledge facilities, quite than on private units.
“You see XBox and also you see PlayStation, you see different rivals making an attempt to get the cloud into players’ palms in a manner that truly is smart. And Nvidia GeForce NOW has actually cracked that code,” Miller stated.
Gettys advised CNBC that Nvidia’s streaming platform is one of the best “by a landslide.”
“It permits tens of millions extra folks entry to gaming on the highest stage, even when they do not have the newest playing cards and all of that. And it is really unimaginable know-how,” he stated.
Advanced Micro Devices is Nvidia’s prime competitor in gaming, with its Radeon line of GPUs.
However the reminiscence crunch stays a problem for each.
“If Nvidia cannot get the reminiscence, AMD ain’t going to get the reminiscence,” Rasgon stated. “Sentiment clever, each manufacturers have their followers and they are often die arduous.”
“There is a clear favourite,” Gettys stated. “For those who’re taking part in on PC, you are going to need an Nvidia card.”
