Nvidia is reportedly halting new gaming graphics card releases in 2026, a first in three decades, due to a severe global memory shortage. The company is prioritizing AI chips, which are significantly more profitable. For the first time in roughly three decades, Nvidia is skipping an entire year without launching a new gaming graphics card. According to a report by The Information, the company has shelved all plans for new GPU releases in 2026, including the much-anticipated RTX 50 Super refresh that many expected at CES 2026 in January.The reason is straightforward—the global memory shortage has gotten so bad that Nvidia would rather funnel its limited RAM supply into AI chips, where the real money is. In its most recent quarterly earnings, Nvidia’s data center division pulled in $51.2 billion out of a total $57 billion in revenue. Gaming, while up 30 percent, is clearly no longer the priority.
RTX 50 Super GPUs were ready but got shelved
The RTX 50 Super refresh, internally codenamed “Kicker,” was reportedly fully designed and ready to go. Nvidia had planned to release an RTX 5080 Super, RTX 5070 Ti Super, and RTX 5070 Super, mirroring last year’s RTX 40 Super lineup. But in December, Nvidia managers pulled the plug, deciding the memory costs simply weren’t worth it for gaming cards.Making things worse, Nvidia is also cutting production of its existing RTX 50 series by 15 to 20 percent through at least Q3 2026, according to sources cited by YouTube channel Moore’s Law is Dead. The RTX 5060 is reportedly being taken off the market entirely for at least six months, while cards like the RTX 5090 and 5070 Ti will remain nearly impossible to buy.
RTX 60 series could slip into 2028
The ripple effects go beyond this year. The Information’s report notes that Nvidia’s next-generation RTX 60 series was originally scheduled to begin mass production by late 2027. With the current delays, that timeline could easily push into 2028 or later.Nvidia hasn’t directly confirmed any of this but acknowledged the situation in a statement to Tom’s Hardware, saying demand for GeForce RTX GPUs remains strong and that memory supply is constrained. The company says it’s working with suppliers to maximise availability, but for now, PC gamers are stuck waiting.