I just got word that Gamefront is closing on April 30….
And you know what? They deserve to die. FUCK GAMEFRONT.
There, I fucking said it. Yes, it’s pretty sad that almost 20 years of modding content might disappear after this, but after having the audacity to place a fucking block on a lot of countries FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER, I couldn’t care less about their ultimate fate.
Apparently this arbitrary change took place on July 19, 2012 (that means the whole website has been dead for almost four years! Go figure!), and as far as I know, no official statement was ever released as to why a lot of countries, specially those from Latin America, were blocked from downloading anything from their website. Only a few countries from Central America, Panama and Puerto Rico were forgiven. Why? Fuck if I know.
I’m fully aware that it’s pretty sad to have this kind of mentality, I’m also aware that jobs will be lost, and as God as my witness I don’t want the same to happen to /idgames too, not in a million years. But being blocked from downloading anything after actively using that site for a year and a half, and to top it off, without actually telling you why, is not the best feeling in the world. If you think that I was the only one who noticed this change then I’m afraid that you’re sorely mistaken. You just can’t block access to FREE videogame mods, no matter the reason. What’s the fucking point?
I might need, however, to back a few files from that website. A good deal of the Unreal Tournament 2004 modding community used Gamefront (formerly known as Filefront) to upload their mods, so unfortunately that means when their shitty website goes down, a good chunk of history will inevitably be lost (sure, the entire mod database and their files are being backed up as we speak, but an immeasurable amount of links on the internet will be broken). There’s also a good lot of Doom 3 mods that will die once Gamefront fucks off, including Classic Doom 3, the famous recreation of Knee-Dep In The Dead in the Doom 3 engine, so be sure to back that mod up if you have the chance and if you’re not blocked from their website.
As for me, come April 30 I might celebrate their death. Might. I mean, it’s no surprise at this point that they’re closing their doors, and it’s also no surprise they’re not disclosing the exact reasons that lead to this decision, (and at this point I honestly don’t care about them) but if this has to do with lack of traffic then, well, they had it coming.
On a final note, and on behalf of the Latino gaming community who got cut from the Gamefront modding database, here’s to you all, from the bottom of our hearts: QUE TE DEN POR EL CULO! HASTA LA VISTA, GAMEFRONT!
