As important as releasing new games is, it’s even more important to preserve them. It’s why Sony has invested in the PlayStation Studios Vault, an operation that is dedicated to preserving over 200 million game development files on data tapes that not even top executives have access to in a mineshaft.
It’s also why Japan’s National Diet Library announced it would not be preserving Game Key Cards, as the cartridges do not “qualify” as content, a massive decision after 25 years of archiving physical media.
However, in a massive blow to those efforts, one of the largest game preservation websites, Myrient, has announced that it will shut down effective March 31, 2026.
In a statement shared on Discord, the site’s owner shared some of the reasoning behind the decision, including rising RAM and HDD prices, as well as insufficient funding to keep the efforts going.
“As traffic continued to increase last year, the amount of funding from donations remained the same,” the note read in part. “I have been paying more than $6,000 out of pocket every month in order to cover the difference, which is not sustainable.”
Additionally, the site has experienced an influx of download managers being utilized to bypass the site’s protection limits and donation message. “Such egregious and abusive usage of the site cannot be tolerated anymore,” its owner noted.
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“Since last September, RAM, SSD and HDD prices have surged dramatically and continue to rise due to ongoing extreme demand for AI datacenter,” the post continued. “This has caused Myrient’s hosting expenses to go up as well. Necessary upgrades to the storage and caching infrastructure only exacerbated the problem. With a large number of servers and the aforementioned existing monthly deficit in excess of $6,000 out of pocket, there is no way to pay for the increased hosting and hardware upgrade options.”
In the end, it all became too much.
“In short, I can no longer afford to run the site.”
It’s a brutal end to a massive preservation effort, one that is arguably the most extensive effort of any kind.
What Is Myrient?
For those curious, Myrient is “a fast and reliable video game preservation service with over 390 terabytes of organized collections publicly available for download.”
Beyond its extensive library, it is also most noteworthy for its focus on accessibility and making things as stress-free as possible, including a distinctive lack of ads, paywalls and pop-ups on site.
“We understand that a bad user experience can be frustrating, and that video game preservation is only as effective as the means of access,” the site asserts.
Despite a rush of users willing to donate in the wake of Thursday’s news drop, it seems like the site’s fate has been set in stone. With 33 days until March 31, users are working double time to try and curate their own libraries, as well as create potential backups that could then be shared post shutdown.
However, given how expensive the efforts are and undeniably will continue to be, it’s unclear how far things will go. What is clear is that Myrient is not long for the world, and it’s unfortunate.
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