It’s tough to be a PC gamer. In the last few years we’ve had the pandemic and the ensuing chip shortages, we’ve had crypto bros scooping up every GPU that wasn’t nailed down, and now, AI needs for all the RAM.
RAM is going up in price astronomically, and, unfortunately, it’s a key component of any PC. But it’s not worth buying when it costs what it does right now.
Cloud gaming doesn’t require a powerful PC. Or a PC at all.
The major benefit of cloud gaming is that you don’t need much of a PC to take advantage of it. You don’t actually need a PC at all.
RAM prices are, you would imagine, going to catch up with every aspect of the PC market before too long. If the prices don’t settle, it will be inevitable that laptops, handhelds, pre-built desktops, even consoles and smartphones, could start to see related increases.
Cloud gaming takes that worry away somewhat, because you don’t need new hardware. You can play on your current phone, your smart TV, your existing laptop or desktop, anything with a web connection and a browser.
Consider also, in some cases the cloud could actually be giving you an upgrade. NVIDIA’s top tier of GeForce Now gives RTX 5080 level graphics performance. If you don’t have one of those already, you can borrow theirs.
Xbox Game Pass has also upped its cloud game of late. If you’re an Ultimate tier subscriber, you now get “high quality” streaming options at 720p and 1080p, alongside a 1440p “max quality” setting.
My colleague, Jez Corden, recently took a closer look at 1440p cloud gaming on Xbox Game Pass and the results speak for themselves, even if it looks like a carefully staged rollout.
While Xbox Cloud Gaming is geared primarily at Game Pass subscribers, it does also boast a growing “stream your own game” catalog. NVIDIA GeForce Now is entirely this model, buying a game on a supported platform and streaming it to your device.
The RAM crisis is going to make 2026 miserable
The problem with the RAM crisis is that everything needs RAM. Phones, tablets, laptops, desktops, handhelds, NAS enclosures, the humble Raspberry Pi. If it does computing of any kind, it needs some RAM.
So this isn’t just going to affect the PC gamer wanting to build or upgrade a shiny desktop tower. It’s going to affect everything.
We’re yet to really see just how bad it’s going to get. Obviously, buying sticks of DDR5 RAM right now is the biggest one we’ve seen. PC maker Maingear is now advising customers to bring their own RAM to the systems it builds to try to mitigate costs somewhat.
Likewise, Framework, known for its modular systems, has already issued multiple updates to pricing based on how expensive RAM is getting. It’s doing a better job at keeping prices down than Apple (who’s really surprised), but this is going to start affecting every company making hardware.
Keeping your existing hardware and using the cloud looks like making the most sense
2026 really doesn’t look like being a fun time for anyone who wants a new PC. Especially if you want a PC for gaming. Already expensive hardware has the potential to skyrocket, and that’s no fun for anyone.
What it means is that hanging onto whatever hardware we currently have looks like making the most sense. Fortunately, with the advances in cloud gaming technology in recent years, for many, this looks like being a good alternative.
I’ve been using cloud gaming for years now, and was one of those particularly aggrieved when Google shut down Stadia. Even back then it was genuinely impressive and at least console-quality.
NVIDIA and Microsoft are the best bets in the space right now, with options on both to stream Game Pass games and ones you buy. In NVIDIA’s case, even with the impending 100 hours per month cap, you’re going to get access to a better gaming PC in the cloud than most of us have at home.
At the very least, it’s going to be worth trying. Both can be used now without paying for their respective top tiers, so you can at least get a feeling for it before committing.
Sure, it won’t be the answer for everyone. You still need a reasonably good internet connection to get the best experience. But given the costly alternative, we might not have much choice in the coming year.
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