Ram prices are forcing Larian to optimize its new Divinity game far earlier than planned

The rising cost of RAM is beginning to ripple across the games industry, with developers now feeling the pressure of hardware shortages and escalating prices.

As AI companies continue to hoard memory stock, costs have surged for both consumers and manufacturers. The situation has sparked concerns that console prices could rise again, and there are reports that GPU maker Nvidia may even cut production of some of its graphics cards.

In a recent interview with TheGamer, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke said the studio is being forced to optimize its next Divinity game much earlier than expected due to unprecedented hardware costs.

Larian says RAM prices are disrupting development plans

When discussing the challenges of releasing a game in early access, Vincke pointed to RAM and SSD pricing as an unexpected hurdle.

“Interestingly, another [issue Larian is facing] is really the price of RAM and the price of SSDs and f**k, man,” he said. “It’s like, literally, we’ve never had it like this.”

Vincke explained that the spike has upended the studio’s long-term planning, which typically accounts for predictable hardware pricing trends.

Larian Studios

“It kind of ruins all of your projections that you had about it because normally, you know the curves, and you can protect the hardware,” he said. “It’s gonna be an interesting one. It means that most likely, we already need to do a lot of optimization work in early access that we didn’t necessarily want to do at that point in time. So it’s challenging, but it’s video games.”

The comments arrive as Larian faces separate backlash over its use of generative AI during development. Vincke recently confirmed that the studio uses AI tools to help with references, which has drawn criticism given AI’s role in driving demand for RAM.

Responding to that criticism, Vincke said, “We’re not ‘pushing hard’ for or replacing concept artists with AI. We use AI tools to explore references, just like we use Google and art books. At the very early ideation stages, we use it as a rough outline for composition, which we replace with original concept art. There is no comparison.”