One of the largest ROM and game preservation sites, Myrient, is shutting down on March 31. The site's solo operator cited unsustainable financial pressure as the primary cause.
The operator, Alexey, explained that despite increasing traffic, user donations have plateaued. He has been covering a monthly deficit of over $6,000 out of pocket. This situation was exacerbated by surging RAM prices, driven by high demand from AI data centers, which drastically increased hosting costs.
Alexey also pointed to the abuse of the site's systems, with specialized download managers bypassing donation prompts, sometimes behind paywalls. While other factors contributed, the core issue is the operator can no longer afford to run the service. Notably, the closure does not affect the linked hShop 3DS site, and donations after March 31 will be forwarded to it.
The shutdown highlights how economic pressures, rather than legal action, can end such preservation efforts, underscoring the fragile ecosystem of game archiving.