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RARBG, one of the largest torrent sites in the world, has said goodbye to millions of users. The site, which was a prominent and stable source of new movie and TV show releases, cited a variety of reasons behind its decision to cease operations. The surprise closure marks the end of an era.
Founded in 2008, RARBG has evolved into a key player in the torrenting ecosystem.
The site not only attracted millions of monthly visitors from around the world, but was also a major release hub, bridging the gap between the pirate scene and the general pirate public.
Today, the site's fifteen years of operation unexpectedly came to an end. In a message posted on the site's home page, the team says goodbye. This message has been separately confirmed by a source familiar with the matter.
RARBG cites multiple reasons behind the surprise decision, including COVID-related health issues that led to the tragic death of one of the people involved. The Russian-Ukrainian war also affected the team, with the RARBG suggesting that it had members fighting on both sides.
โThe last 2 years have been very difficult for us: some people on our team have died due to covid complications, others are still suffering from the side effects, unable to work at all. Some are also fighting the war in Europe, ON BOTH SIDES,โ the team writes.
The rising costs of operating from data centers in Europe also played a role. And with revenue having trouble keeping up with rising costs, shutting down the site finally seemed like the best solution.
โInflation makes our daily expenses impossible to cover. Therefore, we can no longer run this site without massive expenses that we can no longer cover out of pocket. After a unanimous vote, we have decided that we can no longer do it."
"Sorry ๐ Bye," concludes the message.
The shutdown also marks the end of popular RARBG releases, many of which were also shared via other pirate sites. These high-quality releases, which aside from the early days never included CAM, are among the most downloaded ever.
Today's shutdown is one of the largest in the history of torrent sites. It's also the first major shutdown since 2015/2016, when KickassTorrents, Torrentz, and ExtraTorrent all left the scene.
Needless to say, there will be plenty of imitators eager to take over the RARBG brand. However, the actual RARBG no longer exists.
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This is a developing story, more information and details can be added.
