20-Year-Old Gaming ROM Site Shuts Down Due to Copyright Issues, Data Hosted on Internet Archive

ROMHacking.net, a gaming ROM patch sharing platform that has been operational for nearly 20 years, where users could share and download cracked patches or remakes of classic games, has decided to shut down due to ongoing copyright pressure on its operations team.

The good news is that the website will host all its data on the Internet Archive, a not-for-profit project, allowing users to still download existing game ROM patches. However, the downside is that users will no longer be able to upload and share new game ROM patches or remastered installation packages.

Nightcrawler, the website's founder, stated in an announcement:

"For nearly 20 years, we have operated successfully, but for various reasons, it's time to end this chapter. The site has achieved, and even far exceeded, all its initial goals.

We've made significant progress in legalizing ROM hacking and transformed it from a niche content type associated with the dark web to something more easily accepted by the mainstream. We've paved a much easier path for all those who follow.

I miss the days when I could interact and collaborate with a small group of supporters rather than the entire world. The site has become incredibly busy, operating 24/7, with longer queues and an endless inbox. The world now is very different from 2005, with deletions and legal burdens increasing as copyright pressure surges."

However, in discussion threads, different opinions emerged. Community member Gideon Zhi on X/Twitter sympathized with Nightcrawler's fatigue but also emphasized that in the past decade, Nc had imposed many controls over the content created by the community and had refused all help.

In 2023, Nc had hinted at wanting to shut down the website, and now the final decision has been made to close. Users still interested can access the backup data through the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/romhacking.net-20240801