Update: Since this piece went live a short time ago, it has been confirmed to us that the Forest of Illusion's removal from the internet is not related to any kind of copyright takedown.
An official statement has been published on Archive.org:
"As we reach the end of a 6-year journey dedicated to game preservation, we must regretfully announce the closure of Forest of Illusion. We've come to the decision that we can no longer keep the site running. This is for a few reasons, but is primarily due to not being able to provide the necessary time and energy needed to maintain our cherished platform. We express our sincerest gratitude to our supporters and followers. Thank you for being part of this extraordinary adventure, and thank you to all past and present patrons who helped us get to where we are."
Original Story: Forest of Illusion, a famous site devoted to documenting and preserving all sorts of Nintendo history, has seemingly vanished from the internet (thanks, Lost Nintendo History).
The site has gone and was briefly joined by its Twitter account, which has almost 50,000 followers; this was later reactivated. togemet2 – one of the people behind the site – has said that it's unlikely Forest of Illusion will return:
However, togemet2 has also admitted that they aren't totally sure what has happened, but it has nothing to do with any of Forest of Illusion's recent archival activities:
Whatever the reason for the site's removal from the web, Nintendo is, of course, infamous for being particularly heavy-handed when it comes to dealing with infringements of its copyright, but it has been doubling down of late due to the impending release of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
An art book related to the game was recently leaked online, and Nintendo even asked Discord to reveal the identity of the leaker.
Forest of Illusion's disappearance is a huge blow to video game preservation; the site tirelessly documented and preserved many items which would otherwise be lost forever, and it's hard to imagine any other site stepping in to fill the void, especially with Nintendo on the prowl.