Nvidia might not have any new gaming GPUs in 2026 — and I wouldn’t bet against this rumor

  • Sources claim Nvidia won’t make any new gaming GPUs in 2026
  • This is because of the RAM crisis, with video memory being prioritized for AI graphics cards
  • The report further asserts that Nvidia is “slashing production” of existing RTX 5000 GPUs, which sounds ominous

We’ve again been told that Nvidia won’t release any new gaming GPUs in 2026, this time from a more authoritative source on the rumor mill.

The Information reports that Nvidia isn’t going to release any new GeForce graphics cards this year, due to the RAM shortage that also affects video memory.

If true, it’d be the first year in three decades that Nvidia hasn’t released a new gaming GPU, whether that’s an entirely new product or a refresh of an existing one, such as a Super version.

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There are two sources with ‘direct knowledge’ of the matter, claiming this, noting that Nvidia needs to prioritize the memory chips it’s getting for AI graphics cards, not gaming products, since there’s much more profit in the former.

The report also contends that Nvidia is “slashing production” of its existing RTX 5000 GPUs, without providing any details on the exact percentage cut that we’re looking at.

Obviously, add seasoning to all this. Nvidia wouldn’t be drawn to comment directly on these rumors – unsurprisingly – but Team Green did tell The Information that it continues to ship all GeForce products and is working with suppliers to maximize memory availability.

That’s the exact same reassurance that was given by Nvidia when there was speculation that the RTX 5070 Ti had essentially been dropped from the production lines, a claim that Team Green flatly denied.

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Analysis: a growing weight of rumors for both production cuts and delayed refreshes

A selection of Nvidia RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards.

(Image credit: Nvidia)

Both of these rumors add to existing threads already spun from the grapevine. We’ve heard multiple times now that Nvidia is cutting back production levels of GeForce GPUs, with the latest assertion being a 15% to 20% drop. The Information doesn’t pin down any specific value to this purported cut in gaming chips rolling off production lines, but if it’s worth talking about, it must be a significant enough percentage, perhaps in line with the mentioned figure.

We also previously heard from a reliable leaker on X (the same source as the 20% production drop rumor) that there’ll be no gaming GPUs from Nvidia in 2026. So, with two separate reports claiming this – and a more heavyweight source in the form of The Information here – this increases the odds that there’s some truth to these theories.

The Information also divulges that Nvidia planned an incremental update to the RTX 5000 range, codenamed ‘Kicker’, and that the new design for these refreshed graphics cards had been completed. However, the report claims Nvidia delayed these plans in December 2025, without saying when the new launch timeframe would be.

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It seems that it won’t be this year, then, and this could push back the next-gen GeForce GPUs, too. Nvidia’s RTX 6000 range was supposed to enter mass production late in 2027, but that won’t happen now, we’re told. Presumably, that shunts these RTX 6000 GPUs back to 2028, although that isn’t clarified here.

Of course, the ‘Kicker’ refresh is doubtless the rumored RTX 5000 Super GPUs, which are incremental upgrades over existing models. Going by rumors, Nvidia planned (or indeed still plans) an RTX 5070 Super, an RTX 5070 Ti Super, and an RTX 5080 Super.

The theory was that they’ll load up on tons of video RAM – 18GB for the RTX 5070 Super, and 24GB for the other pair – so with that in mind, and the scarcity of VRAM, it makes a lot of sense that Nvidia wouldn’t want to go ahead with these new GPUs.

The hope that we’ll see RTX 5000 Super refreshes realized this year appears to be crushed, then. Indeed, the more worrying prospect is not that there won’t be any new GeForce GPUs in 2026, but that Nvidia’s existing gaming boards are going to be subjected to increasing price hikes as supply levels continue to fall off.

The rumblings from Nvidia’s big GPU rival, AMD, haven’t been any more comforting of late, either. Away from the higher-end of the graphics card spectrum, both Team Green and Red are now rumored to be slanting production more towards 8GB GPUs rather than 16GB models, much to the chagrin of many gamers who feel that 8GB isn’t nearly enough these days.

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