Editor's take: Myriad of Entertainment, a site known for providing fast access to large collections of video game-related content, is expected to shut down soon. The site's sole maintainer cited rising operational costs and expressed frustration that the current AI investment boom is worsening economic pressure for small independent operators, while disproportionately benefiting large corporations and wealthy investors.
In a recent update shared via Telegram, the maintainer of Myrient announced that the service will shut down on March 31, 2026. After that date, hundreds of terabytes of gaming-related data is expected to disappear from the internet. The decision reportedly follows a sharp increase in storage and hosting costs, which has made continued operation financially impractical.
The site's owner, who has chosen to remain unnamed, said the project is facing persistent funding challenges. While donations help offset some operational expenses, they are insufficient to cover growing web traffic and infrastructure costs. The maintainer reportedly contributes about $6,000 per month from personal funds to sustain the service, a situation described as unsustainable over the long term. In addition, some download managers have been configured to exploit site features in ways that increase bandwidth and hosting burdens.
Myrient allows compatibility with most download management tools, but the operator says certain software clients bypass platform safeguards by suppressing donation-related notices. The maintainer also claims that some third-party tools have attempted to unlock restricted features for commercial use, which violates the site's non-commercial distribution policy.
The shutdown announcement also cited broader industry pressures. Prices for storage components, including RAM, SSDs, and traditional hard disk drives, have reportedly risen significantly since last September amid increased demand from AI data center construction. As a result, hosting and server maintenance costs for the archive have increased accordingly, while external funding sources and donations have remained limited.
"There are still many other smaller reasons, I could go on and on about them, but nobody would want to read it. In short, I can no longer afford to run the site," Myrient's maintainer said.
Myrient hosts more than 390 terabytes of curated game collections, including complete sets of MAME ROMs and "Exo" preservation projects covering classic DOS and early Windows 3.x software. The site was originally designed as a preservation-oriented distribution platform, emphasizing accessibility, structured organization, and fast, advertising-free downloads.
Operating without advertising revenue or major external funding, Myrient now faces rising infrastructure costs associated with large-scale archival hosting. The operator has pointed to broader market pressures linked to the expansion of AI data center construction, which has increased demand for storage hardware and contributed to rising component prices. Some preservation advocates have expressed concern that the shift toward AI-driven computing workloads may further constrain availability in the consumer storage market.
The service is expected to remain operational for the next few weeks, though the developer has shown little indication of reconsidering the shutdown decision.
In response, members of the digital preservation community have begun organizing efforts to archive content hosted on Myrient's servers. These efforts include the formation of a discussion group on Reddit dedicated to coordinating data preservation activities.