TECH

Microsoft yields to pressure and removes controversial advice about 32 GB of RAM

If you've recently built or bought a gaming PC, you're guaranteed to encounter the age-old PC gaming dilemma: how much RAM is really needed to run modern games without stuttering and frame rate drops? The answer to this question usually varies immensely depending on who you ask, the games you prefer, and your tolerance for potential performance issues. However, Microsoft recently decided to come out and give its own official "verdict" on the matter. The only problem? The gaming community didn't find the suggestion very amusing, and the tech giant was forced to quietly back down.

In an article published (and now defunct) on its official website, the owner of Windows and Xbox decided to establish what it considered the new golden rules for the ideal memory configuration in a computer dedicated to video games.

According to the company's text, 16 GB of RAM should only be seen as the "practical starting point" or the minimum baseline. Microsoft's real recommendation, which it boldly labeled the "no worries upgrade," focused on a hefty 32 GB of memory. The official justification even had some logical basis: having 32 GB gives you a gigantic margin of maneuver if you're the type of gamer who likes to have the game running while keeping Discord open to chat with friends, has your browser (like the resource-hungry Google Chrome) full of tabs with guides and tutorials, or uses streaming tools running in the background.

The corporate theory seemed very sensible on paper, but Microsoft quickly forgot a crucial and unavoidable detail: the finite budget of the average gamer.

As soon as the specialized portal Windows Latest discovered this advice article and shared it with the rest of the world, the reaction on social media, subreddits, and forums dedicated to hardware was immediate and relentless. Gamers didn't hold back on criticism, and many resorted to sarcasm to ridicule the company's recommendation.

The main complaint is very easy to understand. In a market where the latest graphics cards and top-of-the-line processors already cost a fortune, demanding or attempting to normalize gamers spending tens or hundreds of euros (or dollars) more just to double their RAM is an attitude that sounds completely disconnected from economic reality. The general consensus of the community was clear: asking people to loosen their purse strings to reach the 32 GB mark doesn't send a good message, especially when many are still struggling to assemble a basic machine.

Microsoft's "ninja blackout"...The outcome of this story is a classic case of corporate crisis management and damage control, executed in the quietest way imaginable. Faced with the avalanche of negative comments and ridicule from the gaming community, Microsoft implicitly agreed that it had shot itself in the foot with that publication.

The new foundation for gaming...In a post on its Learning Center, Microsoft published an article showing what constitutes "A good gaming computer," and what caught people's attention was the company's choice to set 32 ​​GB of RAM as the new standard for PCs.

In the text, the company explains that 32 GB of RAM is necessary to achieve "smooth gameplay." Since most current games consume around 16 GB of RAM during execution, although unrealistic for many, the company's thinking makes sense.

Microsoft comments that users often also use applications like Discord, browsers, or even streaming programs while playing, so it's necessary to have enough RAM to run everything smoothly.

The only problem with this situation is that, thanks to investments in generative artificial intelligence, the price of RAM has plummeted worldwide due to scarcity.

Furthermore, the company also commented that SSDs are being used more frequently, which also makes sense given the recommended specifications of most games, which always warn about the need for an SSD to run the titles.

What was the solution found? The company simply removed the article from its official website overnight, without leaving any trace, footnote, or apology. The maneuver was so quick and stealthy that not even the famous Wayback Machine (the digital archive that preserves web pages) managed to capture a copy of the original page for posterity, turning Microsoft's words into a veritable digital ghost.

The stark truth is that, regardless of this controversy, modern video games are effectively becoming increasingly demanding. Having 16 GB on your system still allows you to play the vast majority of the current catalog in a very decent way, but the inevitable transition to higher capacities is looming on the horizon. Microsoft's mistake wasn't a technical forecasting error, but rather a giant error in timing and empathy with your wallet.

mundophone