Blizzard Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against the creators of Turtle WoW, private World of Warcraft servers that have recently been surging in popularity. The filing alleges a variety of transgressions, including copyright and trademark infringement, potentially signaling the beginning of tougher enforcement of Blizzard's intellectual property, at least in the World of Warcraft sphere.
Turtle WoW launched in 2018, offering a classic experience based on the original version of Blizzard's iconic MMORPG. While it was never a mere recreation, it expanded significantly over time. Nowadays, Turtle WoW differs from World of Warcraft with features like additional playable races, leveling zones, quests, endgame content, and transmogrification. In August 2025, the fan-run community peaked at over 44,000 concurrent players on all of its servers combined.
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Blizzard's Turtle WoW Lawsuit Alleges Various Infringements
Turtle WoW may find it difficult to maintain its momentum moving forward, as it has now found itself on the receiving end of a Blizzard lawsuit, Windows Central reports. Filed by Marc Mayer from Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp in the Central District of California on August 29, the complaint alleges multiple transgressions, including unauthorized use of the company's code, art, and branding materials. Blizzard is thus accusing Turtle WoW creators of committing both trademark and copyright infringement.
"This pirate server illegally uses our code, assets, and trademarks to market an unprotected experience," a company spokesperson said. "Given the scale and nature of the infringement, we need to pursue formal remedies to protect the world we’ve built." Reading between the lines, Blizzard appears to see Turtle WoW as a direct threat to the still-ongoing World of Warcraft Classic, a recreation of the original MMORPG first launched in 2019.
This pirate server illegally uses our code, assets, and trademarks to market an unprotected experience.
While some vocal users have previously described Turtle WoW as the WoW Classic experience they always wanted, with some even suggesting they have no interest in returning to the official game, the very existence of the fan-run project can be construed as a potential threat to Blizzard's intellectual property. Turtle WoW is entirely free to download and play, though its developers are accepting donations, which potentially opens them up to allegations of profiting from copyrighted materials.
Given the scale and nature of the infringement, we need to pursue formal remedies to protect the world we’ve built.
One of the most popular add-ons for Turtle WoW is Mysteries of Azeroth, an expansion that explores the original game's lore and introduces a wide range of lore-friendly content. In July 2024, the developers unveiled Turtle WoW 2.0, promising a WoW client rebuilt in Epic's Unreal Engine 5, with a variety of modern features to boot. Faced with Blizzard's newly launched lawsuit, however, the fate of all of these projects now appears to be uncertain.
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