How many people play video games on PCs? Well, according to statistics, 52% of people who play video games play on their personal computers. Quite a surprising number, a number that seems to have difficulty in the market as of late. In order to understand the issue, consumers must first understand the difference between a gaming computer and a regular computer. To play modern video games on a computer, one must have things like graphics cards, decent CPUs (central processing units), RAM (random access memory) sticks, and power supplies that supply enough power for the gaming computer to work like it is intended to. One part that is important to the PC is the microchip, and that key part is where the industry is experiencing a large shortage.

The causes of the shortage are many. According to an article by TechRepublic, these causes include, but are not limited to, U.S trade sanctions against China, lack of planning, shut down of production, crypto miners, the mass amount of purchasing from bots, and the rise of demand for computers and smartphones due to the pandemic bringing work and education closer to the online world. All of this combined and more have led us to what we have today. And this affects more than just the gaming industry. This has affected the automotive industry, consumer electronics, and home appliances. This affects many sectors and has increased the prices from everyday goods like electric toothbrushes to the PC gaming market.
Many may be asking at this point when the shortage will end. Well, unfortunately, it seems that many predict that the microchip shortage will not be over until 2023. The CEO of STMicroelectronics, Jean-Marc Chery, said, “Things will improve in 2022 gradually . . . . but we will return to a normal situation … not before the first half of 2023.”
Ultimately, it looks like the shortage isn’t going away anytime soon. The best bet is to either wait it out, buy last-generation GPUs (graphics processing units), or buy prebuilt devices.