Pirated anime site Animeflix has unexpectedly shut down, leaving millions of users without access to its vast library of series and films. While the site's operators did not cite a specific reason for the closure, they noted that the decision was made after “careful deliberation.”

Animeflix has gained great popularity, accumulating tens of millions of monthly visits and having an active Discord community of approximately 35,000 members. This community participated in discussions, art competitions, and even a chess tournament. However, the site's main business was illegal anime streaming, which has attracted considerable legal pressure in recent months.

The site was identified as a target for closure by the anti-piracy coalition ACE last December. In May, rights holders stepped up the pressure through India's Supreme Court, obtaining a sweeping injunction that suspended Animeflix's main domain name, Animeflix.live. Although the site has moved to new domains, Animeflix.gg and Animeflix.li, the legal threat persists.

This week, Animeflix went down, initially displaying an error message from Cloudflare. This time, the problem wasn't the domain, but rather the team's decision to shut down the site without warning.It is with great sadness that we announce the closure of Animeflix. After careful consideration, we have decided to end our service immediately. We deeply appreciate your support and enthusiasm over the years. We hope that the joy and excitement of anime will continue to brighten your days through other wonderful platforms.“, declared the Animeflix team.

While no specific details were provided about the reasons for the closure, it is clear that keeping a website of this type online poses significant challenges, particularly related to copyright issues. Rights holders were actively monitoring the site and looking for options to shut it down, which likely influenced the final decision.

Animeflix shutdown is a common fate for many pirated websites. Given the popularity of the Animeflix brand, it’s likely that the name will be repurposed by a new team willing to fill the void left by its closure. While many users mourn the end of their favorite anime portal, rights holders may be celebrating before focusing on other pirated anime sites that are still active.

Source: Official Twitter Account