Rafomac News, Tech & Trends That MatterJuly 2026 brought some of the strangest news in gaming this year. From the elusive sequel to Baldur’s Gate 3 to a historic surge in RAM profits with a looming lawsuit, the month was anything but normal.
Why Nobody Wants to Touch Baldur’s Gate 4
It’s bizarre: despite the smashing success of Baldur’s Gate 3, its follow-up has become a game nobody’s eager to make. The studio behind the hit, Larian, apparently walked away from a partially playable Baldur’s Gate 4 build. Their reasoning? The daunting task of following up a masterpiece felt too heavy, and they preferred to chase fresh ideas instead. Imagine da Vinci deciding not to paint another Mona Lisa but build tanks and helicopters instead. Meanwhile, Hasbro, holding the IP rights, pitched the sequel to James Ohlen, co-lead of Baldur’s Gate 2. He outright rejected it, calling the competition with Larian’s work “insanity” and warning that rebuilding tools from scratch could mean a torturous half decade of development delays. Oddly enough, it’s not that CRPGs aren’t profitable, but that the complexity and tool-building involved scare studios off—a rare and strange chill over a genre driven by fan passion.
Then there’s Nintendo — always a magnet for controversy.
Tariff Refunds and Lawsuit Hurdles
A group of consumers sued Nintendo arguing players deserve refunds if the company receives tariff rebates from the US government, since prices were higher during tariff impositions. Nintendo fired back saying, once you buy a product, the deal’s done. It’s a hard legal reality that mirrors how markets work—despite Nintendo’s reputation for high prices and heavy-handed legal moves. This case is a rare moment when Nintendo is on the defensive, but industry prices often don’t work like a refund after-the-fact.
In an amusing twist, Nintendo’s ongoing battle with a decade-old fan game used as evidence in a copyright dispute got slammed by the Japanese Patent Office. Nintendo claimed the fan game infringed its copyrights, but patent examiners pointed out copyright law doesn’t govern inventive steps required for patents. They essentially told Nintendo their logic was “completely unreasonable”—a sharp rebuke hinting at how tired authorities are of Nintendo’s aggressive patent antics, especially around the long-running Pal World lawsuit.
Resident Evil 5 Loses Top Spot
For years, Resident Evil 5 was the bestselling in the franchise, despite its mixed reception. That came crashing down when the Resident Evil 2 remake overtook it, a game widely praised for quality. The dethroning quietly celebrated Capcom’s recent renaissance but also muted some long-standing debates about Resident Evil 5’s place in the series.
Silent Hill F’s Insane Writing Assignment
The writing team behind Silent Hill F had their work cut out for them—officially encouraged to read 100 to 200 books annually to fuel creativity. That’s almost a book every other day. The rationale was to prevent recycling the same tired game ideas, which explains the bizarre, off-the-wall story of Silent Hill F. But such a heavy reading load is staggering—most readers would struggle to digest that much literature and absorb the content meaningfully in such a tight timeframe.
Memory Prices Won’t Fall Soon, Valve Warns
Valve engineers dropped a cold truth bomb: PC memory prices aren’t about to drop anytime soon. The tight supply and soaring demand caused by the AI boom means today’s retail prices lag behind a worsening memory shortage by 3 to 6 months. It’s Valve that often gives the clearest insights on hardware bottlenecks, and this time they’ve added memory woes to their watchlist—making you wonder if Valve is nipping at the trail of some next-gen memory breakthrough lurking in China.
Quake’s New Engine Debate Heats Up
Rumors surfaced suggesting a new Quake game might shift from the classic id Tech engine to Unreal Engine. This sparked outrage among purists, given Quake’s historical significance as a groundbreaking fully 3D shooter and the foundation for Valve’s original Source Engine. Still, if the new game captures Quake’s spirit—much like Doom 2016 updated its series formula—it could win over even skeptics. But the tension is real: traditionalists want the legacy untouched, while others see room for modernization.
Florida Man’s Malware Scheme on Steam
In one of the year’s sketchiest scams, a 21-year-old in Florida was arrested for infecting 8,000 PCs with malware hidden inside fake Steam games. The con games stole at least $220,000, mining cryptocurrency from victims’ wallets. This marks a rare case of law enforcement nabbing a source of malware disguised as shovelware—a warning to gamers about the shadowy corners of digital marketplaces.
Nvidia’s Lifeline from Sega’s 90s Investment
Nvidia’s CEO publicly thanked Sega for an early $5 million investment in the mid-90s, when Nvidia was still finding its footing. Though Sega ultimately didn’t adopt Nvidia tech for their Dreamcast console, the funding helped Nvidia survive critical early challenges. The partnership reportedly endures today, stretching over three decades—highlighting an unlikely synergy behind two gaming giants’ histories.
Samsung’s RAM Bonanza and Price Fixing Lawsuit
Samsung’s chip division is on track to make more operating profit in 2026 than in its entire prior 40-year history—thanks to booming AI demand for RAM. At the same time, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron face a lawsuit accusing them of colluding to restrict DRAM supply and inflate prices. The case isn’t settled, but the court has allowed it to proceed, suggesting something substantial is under scrutiny. The idea of these giants quietly agreeing to hike prices to maximise profits fits well into a broader story of tech industry price gouging.
