A major World of Warcraft private server is now the subject of a copyright lawsuit from Blizzard.

Blizzard Entertainment has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Turtle WoW, one of the largest private servers based on World of Warcraft’s original version.

Blizzard’s claims Turtle Wow “built an entire business”

The complaint, filed on Friday (29 August), alleges that the Turtle WoW team has “built an entire business on large scale, egregious, and ongoing infringement of Blizzard’s intellectual property.” 

It further states that such servers “drive away otherwise dedicated WoW players, introduce security risks to players, fragment the WoW player community, and create confusion as to what are official, supported versions of WoW.”

Blizzard argues that private servers like Turtle WoW also contribute to video game piracy by providing players access to experiences without paying for the official product.

Turtle WoW launched in 2018 and offers a modified version of the 2006-era World of Warcraft client. In addition to recreating the “classic” experience, it introduces new playable races, zones, and dungeons. While free to access, the server includes an in-game shop that converts donations into store currency.

According to its developers, the server has around 500,000 active players worldwide, and has seen peak concurrent player counts exceeding 44,000. A recently-opened realm, Ambershire, reached an early peak of over 11,000 players.

The project has been openly promoted, with advertisements on platforms such as YouTube and X. The development team has also announced plans to transition the project to Unreal Engine 5 in future updates.

This is not the first time Blizzard has acted against a private server. In 2016, Nostalrius, which recreated World of Warcraft’s 2006 build before an official version was available, was one of the most prominent private server closures in WoW's history.

"Turtle WoW is here to stay"

Following the lawsuit, a team member named Torta posted a statement on the server’s Discord, saying: “Turtle WoW is here to stay. Challenges come to us often, and each time we are prepared to face them. We remain fully committed to delivering the Turtle WoW experience that you’ve come to love over the years.”

Blizzard has previously taken legal action against other World of Warcraft private servers, including the closure of the Nostalrius project in 2016.