Every Gaming Console Got More Expensive in 2026. GTA 6 Is Three Months Away. Here Is How to Sort Your Storage Before Both Hit.

Memory Now Costs 35% of Your PC. Here Is How to Stop Overpaying for What You Do Not Need.

Something happened in 2026 that has never happened before in the history of gaming hardware. Every major console manufacturer raised prices within the same twelve-month window. Not one. Not two. All four.

Sony moved first, raising PS5 prices across its entire lineup. Valve followed with the Steam Deck OLED. Microsoft added $100 to $150 to every Xbox Series model and killed the 2TB Xbox entirely rather than absorb the storage cost. And now Nintendo — a company that held the original Switch at $299.99 for nearly a decade — is raising the Switch 2 from $449.99 to $499.99 on September 1. That is five days from now.

Every single one of these companies pointed to the same reason: memory and storage costs. Microsoft was the most explicit — console storage and memory costs, the company said, have increased by more than 2.5x, with another doubling expected by fall 2027.

Meanwhile, GTA 6 launches on November 19. The biggest game of the decade, on a console whose storage was already too small for modern libraries before the price crisis started. If you have been putting off your storage upgrade — for your PS5, your Switch 2, or your gaming PC — the window to do it at current prices is closing from both directions.

Here is how to approach storage across every platform before things get more expensive.

Why Storage Is the Reason Your Console Costs More

Most people hear “price increase” and assume it is general inflation or corporate greed. In 2026, there is a specific, traceable, documented cause — and it lives inside every device you own.

NAND flash and DRAM are the most expensive components in your console, and they are getting more expensive faster than anything else. Memory already accounted for over 20% of a PS5’s bill of materials back in 2025, before the current crisis started. In 2026, HP disclosed that memory and storage now represent roughly 35% of a PC’s total cost. MediaTek revealed memory makes up 50% of a mobile chip package. The component that used to be the quiet line item is now the loudest cost in the room.

The supply is not coming back soon. Western Digital’s CEO disclosed that the company is sold out for all of calendar 2026. Kioxia confirmed the same. Phison’s CEO stated publicly that new NAND production has a four-year lead time from investment to supply — meaning relief could stretch to 2030. Samsung and SK Hynix are cutting consumer NAND output to redirect capacity toward AI chips where margins exceed 60%. The NAND that used to end up in your console or SSD is being absorbed by data centres before it reaches a retail shelf.

The Concert Ticket Analogy

Imagine you have been meaning to buy tickets to the biggest concert of the year. You know the date. You know the venue. You know the price will go up closer to the show. But you keep putting it off because you are waiting for a deal.

Then three things happen at once. The venue announces a new surcharge on all tickets. The promoter raises the base price. And a reseller buys up a chunk of the remaining inventory for corporate clients. The ticket you could have bought last month for £60 is now £90 — and it is heading to £120 by showtime.

That is the storage market in 2026. The “concert” is GTA 6 in November. The “venue surcharge” is the NAND shortage. The “promoter” is every console maker passing costs through. And the “reseller” is the AI data centre industry absorbing supply before it reaches consumers. The ticket is not going to get cheaper. The question is whether you buy it now or pay more later.

The Platform-by-Platform Storage Situation

Each platform has different storage constraints, different upgrade paths, and different urgency levels. Here is where things actually stand heading into Q4 2026:

Platform	The Storage Problem	What Is Coming	Urgency	addlink Pick
PS5 / PS5 Pro	667GB usable, digital-only means no disc workaround, GTA 6 rumoured at 200GB	GTA 6 on November 19 — potentially a third of usable storage on one game	High	A93 (heatsink, 7,400 MB/s)
Nintendo Switch 2	260GB internal, standard microSD blocked from gameplay, price rises $50 on September 1	Price increase in 5 days, game library growing fast	Immediate	microSD Express
PC gaming	SSD prices doubled, RAM at 35% of build cost, Gen4 is the sweet spot	Prices projected to keep rising through Q4	Medium-High	S85 (Gen4, 6,000 MB/s)
Xbox Series X/S	Proprietary expansion only, 2TB model discontinued, prices up $100–150	No aftermarket SSD path — Microsoft controls the upgrade	Low control	—

One thing the table makes visible: Xbox is the only platform where you have no aftermarket storage option. The proprietary expansion card format means Microsoft controls the price, the availability, and the capacity. Every other platform gives you a choice — and in 2026, having that choice is worth more than it has ever been.

GTA 6 on PS5: The Maths That Should Worry You

This section matters because GTA 6 is not just a big game — it is the kind of game that changes how much storage an entire console generation needs.

The PS5 ships with 825GB of raw storage. After the operating system, you have roughly 667GB to work with. Current AAA titles already routinely exceed 150GB. GTA 6’s install size is rumoured at around 200GB — and once GTA Online rolls out alongside it, that number is likely to grow.

If you are running GTA 6 on internal storage alone, you are looking at roughly a third of your usable space gone on a single game. Add two or three other modern titles and you are full. Add PlayStation Plus catalogue downloads and you were full before GTA 6 even installed.

Sony’s move to digital-only for new game releases makes this worse. With discs, you could uninstall a game, put the disc on the shelf, and reinstall when you wanted to play again. With digital, every game lives on your drive or it does not exist on your console. Deleting and re-downloading a 200GB game is not a storage strategy — it is a broadband punishment.

An M.2 SSD expansion is the fix, and it needed doing before November. The addlink A93 clears every Sony requirement — PCIe Gen4 at 7,400 MB/s, heatsink included and designed to PS5 slot dimensions, single-sided construction. At 2TB, it gives you enough room for GTA 6, your existing library, and whatever comes next without constantly playing Tetris with your installs.

Switch 2: Five Days Before the Price Goes Up

The Switch 2 situation is simpler but more urgent.

Nintendo raised the price from $449.99 to $499.99 effective September 1, 2026. The “Choose Your Game” bundle deal — which includes a first-party game with the console — disappears on August 31. If you have been considering a Switch 2, the next five days are the last window at the original price. Nintendo consoles rarely go on sale after launch. This price is likely permanent.

The storage angle: the Switch 2 ships with 260GB of internal storage. Modern Switch 2 games are significantly larger than original Switch titles — and the console requires a microSD Express card for expanded game storage. Standard microSD cards will physically fit but are blocked from storing or running Switch 2 games. You need the Express standard specifically.

The addlink microSD Express card is in stock right now. Buy it alongside the console before September 1 and you avoid both the console price increase and the risk of microSD Express cards following the same upward pricing trajectory as every other memory product in 2026.

PC Builders: The Quiet Squeeze Nobody Warned You About

PC gamers do not face a single price-hike deadline the way console owners do. Instead, they face a slow, steady compression that makes every build more expensive by the month.

A 2TB NVMe SSD that cost $120 to $150 a year ago now runs $300 to $480. A 32GB DDR5-6000 kit that cost $80 to $120 in 2025 is approaching $400. Memory and storage — combined — now account for roughly 35% of a mid-range PC build. The GPU is no longer obviously the most expensive component. In many 2026 builds, the RAM and SSD together cost more than the graphics card.

The practical advice has not changed from what this blog has been saying for months: right-size your capacity to what you will actually use in the next twelve months. A 1–2TB Gen4 NVMe paired with 32GB DDR5 covers every gaming and productivity workload without paying the steep premium that 4TB drives and 64GB kits carry in the current market. The addlink S85 at 6,000 MB/s Gen4 paired with the Spider S5 DDR5 is the honest, available, shipping combination that covers the mainstream PC gaming build right now.

For AI workstations and creator rigs where SSD speed genuinely moves the needle, the addlink G55H at Gen5 earns its premium — but only if your motherboard has a CPU-connected Gen5 M.2 slot.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Is it worth buying a PS5 SSD now even if I am not sure I will play GTA 6 on launch day?

Yes, because the upgrade is not about one game — it is about the trajectory. Every major PS5 title releasing in Q4 2026 and beyond is digital-first and growing in install size. GTA 6 is the most visible example, but it is part of a pattern. The drive you install today covers everything that comes after it too. And with SSD prices still climbing, the same drive will almost certainly cost more in three months than it does today.

2. Why can I not just use a regular microSD card in the Switch 2?

The Switch 2’s hardware requires the microSD Express standard’s PCIe/NVMe interface to stream game assets at the speeds its processor demands. A standard UHS-I microSD card physically fits the slot and will be recognised for storing screenshots and video, but the console blocks it from storing or running game software. This is a hardware limitation, not a firmware choice — the games are designed around Express-speed data streaming.

3. I built my PC in 2024 with 16GB of DDR5 and a 1TB SSD. Is that still enough?

The 1TB SSD is getting tight if you have a full game library plus applications, but it is still functional. The 16GB of DDR5 is the more pressing bottleneck — Windows 11 with AI features, modern browsers, and background processes now routinely use 12 to 14GB before you launch your main application. Upgrading to 32GB DDR5 will produce a more noticeable daily improvement than upgrading to a faster SSD. If you can only do one upgrade this year, do the RAM first.

4. Should I wait for Black Friday deals on storage before buying?

In a normal year, yes. In 2026, the supply data does not support expecting meaningful Black Friday discounts on SSDs or RAM. Western Digital and Kioxia are sold out for the year. Phison is requesting prepayments on orders. The deals that appeared on Prime Day in June were modest — 10 to 31% off, nowhere near 2024 lows — and several were on inventory that has since sold through entirely. Waiting for Black Friday in a supply-constrained market means hoping that retailers discount products they are having trouble keeping in stock. That maths does not work.

5. Microsoft killed the 2TB Xbox. Is there any way to add more Xbox storage?

Only through the proprietary Seagate or WD_Black expansion cards, which use a custom CFexpress-style connector locked to Xbox’s Velocity Architecture. There is no M.2 workaround for current-gen Xbox games. The expansion cards work and run at internal-SSD speed, but Microsoft controls the pricing and availability — and with the 2TB console discontinued, expansion card demand is likely to increase. This is the one platform where you genuinely have no aftermarket storage choice.

The Verdict: So What Should You Actually Do?

Here it is in plain terms:

If you own a PS5 and plan to play GTA 6 in November: Get your storage expansion done before launch week, not during it. The addlink A93 at 2TB gives you room for GTA 6, your existing library, and whatever comes next — 7,400 MB/s, heatsink included, built to Sony’s exact slot requirements. Every month you wait, the same drive is likely to cost more.

If you are buying or have just bought a Switch 2: The console price goes up $50 in five days. The microSD Express card it requires for game storage is a separate purchase that will also follow the upward pricing trend. Buy the addlink microSD Express card now while it is available and while the rest of the storage market has not caught up to the Switch 2’s demand yet.

If you are a PC gamer building or upgrading for the rest of 2026: Treat RAM and SSD as a single budget line. The addlink S85 at Gen4 paired with 32GB of Spider S5 DDR5 covers the mainstream gaming build honestly — no spec-sheet chasing, just the performance you will actually feel in daily use, from products that are actually in stock and shipping with a 5-year warranty.

If you are building an AI workstation or creator rig: The addlink G55H at Gen5 earns its premium for sustained workloads. Pair it with Spider S5 DDR5 at 32GB or 64GB. This is the one build profile where SSD speed and RAM bandwidth both genuinely matter — do not underspend on either.

You can explore the full addlink lineup at addlink.com.tw. The common thread across every platform is the same: storage and memory are not getting cheaper, the products you need are not guaranteed to stay in stock, and the launches you are building toward are not moving. Sort your storage now. The maths only gets worse from here.

Which platform are you most worried about heading into Q4 — PS5, Switch 2, or PC? Drop a comment. We are curious where the pressure is hitting hardest for real players right now.

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