FileFront is the first internet-based company I know to have gone under due to the current economic situation. As announced on March 25th this year, FileFront site operations will be indefinitely suspended on March 30th, 2009. They are urging people to use this time period – a mere 5 days – to download any files that have been uploaded as they will not be available after the date specified.
Launched in December 2001, FileFront was a popular destination for gamers looking for patches, mods, demos, videos and other game-related content. They also took the initiative and hosted a wide range of other software, including drivers, internet software and audio-video. However, the site's future became uncertain when UGO acquired 1Up from Ziff-Davis; FileFront was not part of the sale and while Ziff said it would continue to operate FileFront as part of the PC Magazine digital network, the company's struggles cast doubt on how long it could afford to keep things going.
Many have linked this closure to the current economic situation and others have wondered if it's all just an April Fools joke. However, one thing is clear; all indications are that the post is legitimate and the site is indeed going under. For instance, the forums have been completely deleted and you are now greeted with an Apache welcome page instead.
FileFront has long been a reliable download mirror for many games, including MMOs, in the past. It's high download speeds, free uploading and great reputation will be sorely missed by all of it's fans. We have been made aware of the Ziff-Davis financial troubles for quite a while now and earlier in 2008 we were notified of the closure of the popular EGM gaming magazine. After the closing of FileFront the only remaining properties of Ziff-Davis will be ExtremeTech and PC Magazine.
The official statement from the FileFront website is short and sweet:
Dear FileFront User:
We regret to inform you that we are forced to indefinitely suspend the FileFront site operations on March 30, 2009. If you have uploaded files, images or posted blogs, or if you would like to download some of your favorite files, please take this opportunity to download them before March 30th when the site will be suspended.
We would like to give a warm thank you to all of you who have been part of the FileFront communities we have built together. Your support has had a meaningful impact for all of us here at FileFront. Again, we want to give you a sincere “thank you” for your support over the years and wish you all the very best.
Keep gaming alive,
FileFront Management and Team.
I wonder what is going to become of the near-50 terabytes of data and whether or not FileFront will ever be able to make a return.
Bull3t's Blog is a next generation web log written by me, Philip Hughes (also known as Bull3t), a first-year college student living in England, aged 17. I write this blog for the sake of doing so, posting about anything I see fit. 
So what now?
You've reached the end of this post. Seeing as you made it this far means you might be interested in the following related articles and resources.8 Comments
March 31st, 2009
#1
The economy has made some of the most respected and reputable offline companies and so it is not to surprising that there is reputable internet company that is going through some struggles.
That is sad to hear though and I am sure everyone is wishing them luck.
April 6th, 2009
#2
It is always very sad to learn of any company having hard times or even closing its operations, you have to think of all the people who will be affected.
It is vital in these times to make sute that you have a very stable business model, and to keep all fixed costs as low as possible.
April 8th, 2009
#3
I don't think it's entirely economy's fault. I mean filefront wasn't able to adapt to current situation and that's why it sinked. Many people menage to still make money off the web so it's not impossible. But I have to agree I'll miss this site, even though I used it once a month tops.
April 10th, 2009
#4
I am sure that the economy has a small part in this, but you have to think about the future and always have a plan B set up in case of this..
April 10th, 2009
#5
You'll all be happy to hear that Filefront has been acquired by it's original founders and never actually went down. Maybe now is the time for a re-design.
April 17th, 2009
#6
This is always the problem when you are uploading data to a third party site. At the back of my mind I am worried even about Google or Microsoft Live despite their huge size, power and wealth. Who knows what the future may bring and they hold enormous amounts of everyone’s data. Even if they don’t do something sinister with the data in the end your data is ultimately in their control.
April 23rd, 2009
#7
Ow this is sad… I think that they have came back up tho… They are one of the better websites =\
August 3rd, 2009
#8
I don't think filefront has monetised their system well enough. With as much popularity as they have they shouldn't need much in the way of advertising to keep their site going. Something here doesn't add up. Just their site alone on paper must be worth a considerable amount, if they are tanking it looks like a great opportunity for someone to take it over and streamline their operation. If it's true that filefront is going under it's sad news for the gaming community indeed.
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