Final yr I predicted all three of Valve's bulletins so now I reckon I’ve the flexibility to talk these 2026 prophecies into actuality
Way back, it was foretold that there would arrive a particular particular person of common peak, muddy blonde hair, and absent-minded character, who would prophesy the approaching of probably the most wonderful PC gaming know-how. Far and broad would he proclaim what’s to return within the PC gaming {hardware} trade.
That is me. I am that particular particular person. Do not imagine me? Let me provide the proof. Final yr, I made my 2025 {hardware} wishlist, and I completely nailed it when it got here to Valve’s merchandise. Three in a row, actually. Steam Machines? Yep, right here they arrive. Steam Controller? You wager. And a new Steam VR headset—do you even have to ask?
And pay attention, I can already hear the ‘shotgun method’ and ‘damaged clock’ sniggers on the again, however I shan’t hear it. I’m now a tech prophet, and that is that. I do know it is true as a result of I say so, and the truth that I say so might be trusted as a result of I am a tech prophet. Do not take into consideration that an excessive amount of.
Jacob closes his eyes and ponders final yr’s predictions. As he realises these have been truly his needs, not his predictions, the thought strikes him: possibly his needs can turn into actuality if he really believes. Maybe he has unlocked a brand new school of thoughts, an influence akin to the “mental instinct” that the thinker Immanuel Kant claimed could possibly be reserved just for God. A college that permits one thing to be introduced into smart actuality by the mere pondering of it.
As Jacob sits and ponders the character of his new energy, he begins to twitch. As twitches flip into spasms, Prometheus’ mild begins to movement by means of him. He is able to reveal the reality to the world.
The AI bubble will burst
Hearken, all ye weary and downhearted. The time will quickly come when those that have been taking part in God are torn asunder and reminiscence and storage will as soon as once more movement freely.
‘Synthetic intelligence’: even the identify has an air of vanity to it, as if we, the mighty human race, might take aside intelligence and reconstruct it, recasting it in a man-made body, divorcing it of the qualia that arguably gave it its that means within the first place. Such an smug try was by no means destined to finish nicely. And certainly, it will not finish nicely for these tech firms and leaders who’ve taken themselves to be gods on a path in direction of the post-human.
This yr, I foresee an audible ‘pop’ sounding the world over because the a whole bunch of billions of {dollars} which were pumped into the AI trade lastly realise they don’t have anything to do apart from be handed across the similar few firms, and swiftly filter out, again into the remainder of the know-how market the place actual worth lies. One nearly fast outcome shall be reminiscence costs plummeting not simply again to regular ranges however even decrease than this, and there shall be a lot rejoicing throughout the land.
When will this occur, you ask? Even I’m not aware of such issues. Ah, go on then, I am going to take a pot shot: late September to early October.
Half-Life 3 will launch alongside Valve {hardware}
You might have waited so lengthy, and your religion has not been missed. Now weep. Weep with pleasure as you witness GabeN’s grace, long-awaited and ready within the shadows, now introduced into the sunshine.
It has been over 20 years for the reason that launch of Half-Life 2, which we scored 96% and known as “an unmissable sport” in our evaluate approach again in 2004. However I needn’t clarify all that; we all know what Half-Life 2 is. It is the third iteration we have now no clue about.
If any firm might maintain an enormous sport beneath wraps, it might be Valve. And would not subsequent yr be the right time for a HL3 launch? Valve not often releases new units however subsequent yr it is releasing three. Absolutely a type of launches would make for shock HL3 launch. The query is which system it would launch alongside.
Half-Life: Alyx is a good VR sport, however HL3 will certainly should be an ordinary, non-VR sport. Which makes me take into consideration that Steam Machine. It’s totally boxy, do not you assume? As varied Reddit and YouTube feedback identified after the announcement final month, give that field an orange tint and also you’d have… an Orange Field. A brand new Orange Field assortment that includes HL3 packaged alongside the Steam Machine would make for fairly the launch.
So that’s precisely what’s going to occur. And the bonus is that there will be a shock Group Fortress 3 thrown in there, too. And that one’s only for me, ‘trigger the second is one among my favorite video games of all time. Okay, possibly I am pushing my luck with the winds of destiny, now.
We’ll get really gaming-oriented Strix Halo handhelds
Lighter, sooner, stronger, cheaper. By Prometheus’ mild, 2026 will ship immense graphical energy into the palm of your hand for cheaper.
Ah, Strix Halo, the promised one. At the least, that was what we thought. Earlier than it launched, rumours abounded of an APU—an AMD processor with built-in graphics—able to elevating the moveable gaming world to new heights. It was meant to make handhelds soar.
As a substitute, we bought one thing that virtually no gamer will need. It is quick, certain, nevertheless it’s so quick throughout the board that it prices a ridiculous sum of money. Cash that could possibly be spent on a laptop computer with a way more highly effective discrete cellular GPU, or two handhelds. 40 compute models (CUs) could be very good for a chip with built-in graphics, however the 16 CPU cores are utterly pointless for gaming, that means you are paying plenty of additional money for one thing you do not really want.
However there’s nonetheless promise for a true gaming-oriented Strix Halo chip, and I predict it would arrive in 2026. What type will it take, you ask? It is going to descend as a Ryzen AI Max+ 388. As brother Jeremy so aptly defined when hearsay of this fabled chip broke: “What if there was a less expensive mannequin that stored the 40 graphics CUs and 256-bit reminiscence bus, however minimize the CPU all the way down to eight cores?”
Certainly. What if, Jeremy, what if? No have to ponder, as a result of we’ll discover out, because the Ryzen AI Max+ 388, with half the CPU cores however simply the identical GPU may because the AI Max+ 395, shall arrive. In truth, I predict we can’t have lengthy to attend, no, not lengthy in any respect. Did somebody say ‘CES’? No, it should have been the wind. Sure, sure, simply the wind.
We’ll see an inexpensive graphics card with greater than 8 GB of VRAM
Lo, a veritable miracle: throughout a RAMpocalypse, one new and low-cost graphics card will take all of it on the chin and one way or the other provide us 12 GB of VRAM.
Sure, “one way or the other” is the operative phrase right here. Don’t ask me to clarify myself—I declare, I don’t clarify. One way or the other, an Nvidia or AMD graphics card will launch that prices lower than $350 and provides a complete 12 GB of reminiscence. Avid gamers have been complaining about 8 GB playing cards for lengthy sufficient, and at last, they are going to be heard. Intel has already listened in fact, with its Arc B570 and Arc B580, however I am speaking a few graphics card that individuals will truly purchase—sorry, Intel.
Which of the 2 producers will pay attention has not but been revealed to me. Maybe we’ll see a fair much less highly effective AMD card than the RX 9060 XT with 12 GB of reminiscence—so simply an AMD Radeon RX 9060, sans the XT, I suppose. Or maybe will probably be Nvidia launching an RTX 5060 Tremendous, heralding the onset of Tremendous playing cards decrease down within the generational vary than we have ever seen.
12 GB of VRAM on an entry-level card is not fully new. The RTX 3060 has solely not too long ago lastly began working low on shares, and that was an entry-level 12 GB card again in 2021. So, 2026 shall be extra of a return to type than the rest for the GPU market. You realize, when that 12 GB entry-level card positively launches. Yep.
A wi-fi gaming mouse will launch that is lighter than 25 g
A feat as soon as thought unimaginable will come to cross. What was as soon as mild will turn into heavy, as a brand new class of gaming mice is to be born, lighter than any the world has ever seen.
It could not be an article of mine if I did not discuss light-weight gaming mice, and by some Olympian grace, my trembling fingers are channelling the message that 2026 will convey even lighter gaming mice.
That shall be an achievement as a result of the Corsair Sabre V2 Professional already took issues up a notch in 2025 by weighing in at simply 36 g. Beforehand, ‘light-weight’ meant lower than about 65 g, given the unique Logitech G Professional X Superlight, which was for a very long time the king of ultralight mice, weighs 63 g. Now, we have now mice that weigh lower than 45 g, whether or not from Turtle Seaside, Pulsar, Corsair, or different lesser-known manufacturers.
The Corsair mouse takes the crown for now, however I predict a shock entry from one other model, with a strong, sturdy, wi-fi gaming mouse weighing lower than 25 g. I am unsure how such a factor shall be doable—I do not understand how the Corsair one pulls it off with zero holes in its shell, to be sincere—however come to cross it shall.
It is my closing prediction for the yr of 2026, which is certain to be simply the icing on the cake of a improbable yr for PC gaming {hardware}, assuming my predictions all come to cross. Which they’ll, in fact. Not even a flicker of a doubt.
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