Blizzard finally succeeds as Turtle WoW private server shuts down after defiant 8 year run

In an unfortunate turn of events, Classic World of Warcraft fans are saying their final goodbyes to one of the longest-running private servers for the game after Turtle WoW announced that it is permanently shutting down. The reason behind this is fairly simple: Blizzard sued and secured a sweeping victory against the creators of Turtle WoW in a copyright infringement lawsuit that the company had been discreetly compiling for months.

For context, Turtle WoW had been operational for nearly eight years and gave players a fresh take on vanilla WoW with brand-new content. Sadly, after a federal judge ruled in favor of Blizzard on nearly every count and after both parties reached a private settlement, the Turtle WoW servers are being sunset.

In a recent post on Turtle Craft, Turtle WoW developer Torta wrote:

“Working on Turtle WoW has been the highlight of our lives. The adventures you had, the battles you fought, and the friends you met and made are what made it all worthwhile. We hope you will cherish those moments. What we leave behind are fond memories of an eight-year-long journey, and we hope you’ll remember them every now and then.”

As a final bonus, the Turtle WoW team advanced every realm to the final progression patch so that veteran players and late adopters could experience the newest raids before the servers officially shut down.

Currently, Turtle WoW servers are active and live but will effectively shut down on May 14, and everything will go offline at midnight on May 15. But that’s not all, as the website, dedicated forums, and social channels will also be taken down on October 16.

Turtle WoW cemented itself as “WoW Classic Plus” by embracing an Old School RuneScape-esque approach to the pre-expansion era. The servers kept the game’s original level cap and the OG feel from 2004–2006, but added new content such as raids, zones, dungeons, and races.

Turtle WoW was exactly the kind of evolution players wanted Blizzard to adopt once official Classic servers went live. Turtle WoW didn’t introduce new storylines or remove the level cap. It stayed true to the nostalgic grind that longtime World of Warcraft players appreciated and loved.