Turtle WoW, a private World of Warcraft server that has been active for over eight years, will close on May 14, 2026. This decision comes after a lawsuit filed by Blizzard in August 2025, where the studio alleged copyright infringement. The court issued a cease and desist order, leading to a legal offensive against several unofficial servers in the WoW ecosystem.
Other servers should get ready
Throughout its existence, Turtle WoW stood out for its exclusive content, which included customized zones, new races like High Elves and Goblins, as well as a series of unprecedented quests. This rich content offering and a revamped class balance system attracted a considerable player base, establishing it as the most popular Classic+ server among WoW players.
Despite its efforts to request an official license from Blizzard for fan servers, the company refused, turning Turtle WoW into a victim of this legal offensive. In the same context, Stormforge, another similar server, has also announced its closure for the same date. After the resolution of the conflict, both parties reached an out-of-court settlement, although the terms of this have not been revealed.
Blizzard has also warned about the possibility of taking legal action against other prominent servers, such as Ascension WoW and Project Epoch. This situation could pose a significant threat to the future of private WoW servers. For players still participating in Turtle WoW, there will be an opportunity to experience the latest patch and its respective dungeons before the final shutdown, which will occur on May 14, 2026.