In a surprising turn of events, popular anime pirate site Animeflix has abruptly shut down, leaving fans disappointed and questioning the reasons behind the sudden closure. The site's operators made the announcement without prior warning, stating that the decision was made after "careful deliberation."

With a massive following and receiving dozens of millions of monthly visits, Animeflix had positioned itself as one of the most prominent anime piracy portals. However, the site had been facing significant legal pressure in recent months, which may have played a role in its closure.

Last December, Animeflix appeared on the shutdown targets list of the anti-piracy coalition ACE, indicating that rightsholders were actively seeking to take down the site. Additionally, in May, rightsholders obtained a broad injunction through the High Court of India, effectively suspending Animeflix's main domain name, Animeflix.live.

Despite this setback, Animeflix managed to bounce back by moving to new domains, Animeflix.gg and Animeflix.li, informing its users that the previous domain had become "unavailable." However, yesterday, the site became unreachable once again, but this time, it was not due to domain issues. For reasons unknown, the Animeflix team decided to shut down the site without giving any prior notice.

In a statement, the Animeflix team expressed their gratitude for the support and enthusiasm shown by fans over the years. They wished the fans continued enjoyment of anime through other platforms.

While the Animeflix team did not provide specific reasons for the closure, it is evident that operating such a site comes with its fair share of challenges, especially concerning copyright issues. Rightsholders had been closely monitoring the site, actively working to bring it down.

Interestingly, Animeflix was hosted by the Hungarian company ServerAstra, which coincidentally was also the host for MagnetDL before its mysterious disappearance last week. This shared hosting connection raises speculation, but without further information, it remains unclear if the two incidents are related.

Unfortunately, the closure of Animeflix is a fate that many pirate sites eventually face, including the original Animeflix that went offline several years ago. Given the popularity of the brand, it is likely that the name will be recycled once again by a new team seeking to fill the void.

As expected, fans of Animeflix are expressing their disappointment at the loss of their favorite anime portal. On the other hand, rightsholders may be celebrating this closure, knowing that there are still numerous anime pirate sites in operation for them to target.

With Animeflix's exit, the piracy landscape continues to evolve, leaving both fans and rightsholders wondering what lies ahead for the anime streaming industry.