Myrient's 390TB Archive to Close Amid AI Crisis

Myrient's Closure: A Major Loss for Digital Preservation

Myrient, a leading repository of retro video game ROMs and digital archives, will shut down on March 31, 2026. The decision comes as a result of unsustainable hosting costs driven by rising prices for RAM, SSDs, and hard drives due to an AI-driven supply squeeze (Tom's Hardware).

The Scale of Myrient's Collection

Launched as a non-profit archive, Myrient hosted over 10,886 files and 2.987TB in core Nintendo ROMs alone. The full archive reached approximately 400TB, including prototypes and betas (4chan).

Core Nintendo ROMs: 2.987TB
Total Archive: ~400TB
Monthly Upkeep: $6,000

The site's operator cited the surge in "normalfag" traffic as a factor in escalating costs, with bandwidth spikes not matched by revenue sharing (Gigazine).

Historical Significance

Myrient emerged in the early 2020s as a key resource for retro gamers, filling gaps left by defunct sites. It offered near-complete Nintendo libraries and multi-platform prototypes vital for historians (Gigazine).

Competitor Landscape

Vimm's Lair: ~50TB, verified ROMs, slower mirrors
Archive.org: ~20TB (games), public access, prone to takedowns
IPFS/Torrents: Decentralized, poor speeds

AI's Impact on Storage

The timing of Myrient's closure aligns with increased demand for AI infrastructure, straining memory and storage markets (Tom's Hardware).

HBM4 Memory: High demand for AI data centers
SSD Prices: Increased by 40% since Q4 2025

Broader Implications

The closure highlights a crisis in digital preservation, with AI's infrastructure buildout impacting non-commercial archives. Retro gaming, valued at over $1B annually, risks losing valuable prototypes if decentralized efforts fail (Gigazine).

Efforts like DataVita's green hosting hint at sustainable paths, but costs remain prohibitive without subsidies.

The retro gaming community faces a challenging future as Myrient's closure marks a significant loss in digital preservation efforts.