Blizzard x TurtleWoW Lawsuit: Is this a precursor to Classic+?

It was recently revealed that Blizzard Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against private server TurtleWoW. This isn’t the first time this has happened, as they also filed against Nolstralius as well, several years ago. What I find interesting about this is that the two private servers could not be more different in terms of scope and gameplay style. Nostralius, as far back as I remember, was more Vanilla Classic, but it did have somewhere in the neighborhood of a million active accounts.

TurtleWoW is much smaller, with at last check, ~50,000 active accounts, with 5-10K active on a daily basis. However, this private server does quite a few different things compared to Nostralius, such as creating its own content. These are just my own thoughts on the situation, and I would like to point out that I am not a lawyer, nor am I giving any kind of advice. This is just my thoughts on where I think this situation is heading.

The Blizzard x TurtleWoW Lawsuit feels like Nostralius 2.0 in some ways

The Blizzard x TurtleWoW lawsuit is similar to Nostralius in some ways. The two are/were both private servers, both being very popular. Nostralius was so much bigger, and this is because at that time, there was no legit Classic server to play on. Then came the lawsuit, and a visit to Blizzard Entertainment by the Nostralius team. Before we knew it, Classic WoW was announced.

These days, we have more flavors of Classic than we know what to do with, from Season of Discovery, Hardcore, to the 20th Anniversary servers. Nostralius was so much bigger than TurtleWoW though, so why would they go after this “small time” server? One reason, according to the lawsuit, is that “Blizzard is informed and believes, and on that basis alleges, that Defendants have made hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars from user ‘donations’.”

Another complaint is that the private server is “brazenly escalating its efforts to cannibalize and disrupt WoW player community” through a powerful social media campaign, which includes video game influencers who hype up the private server.

These are serious allegations, mind, but I cannot help but wonder if something similar to Nostralius will happen again. There’s been a major outcry for a Classic+ offering from World of Warcraft fans over the past few years, and that’s what TurtleWoW delivers to their fanbase. Something that is similar to Classic, but with new content that isn’t available anywhere else.

When Nostralius was shut down, it led to the creation of WoW Classic, which certainly helped revitalize the game, and bring those old-school players who longed for something familiar back. I’d like to think that this current lawsuit could also lead to a Classic+ announcement.

While I’d love to think that, and that ultimately Blizzard would work with the developers of this very interesting private server, the fact that they’re reportedly making a great deal of money on this product that legally, doesn’t belong to them, makes me think it’s not just a “Blizz is developing Classic+” situation.

Unfortunately, I think this is just an instance of Icarus flying too close to the sun, and his wings melting. Other private servers do have cash shops, but many of those are used to keep the game running, instead of turning a profit. There are almost certainly other, bigger servers out there. That leads me to think that’s certainly a reason, or multiple reasons, that this lawsuit got filed.

We’ll just have to see what happens over the next year or so. I doubt this is a situation that’s going to get resolved anytime soon. While I’d love to stay positive and think this is going to lead to a really cool update for World of Warcraft, I think it might really just be that TurtleWoW has made too much noise, and has forced Blizzard to respond.

Check out our other WoW guides and features

About the author

Jason is an Esports and Gaming journalist at Sportskeeda holding an amazing 11 years of experience under his belt. Having put out 4000-plus articles and amassing over 12 million reads for Sportskeeda, he is among the company’s most experienced writers. Jason holds a Bachelor's degree in English from UNC Pembroke and was inspired to become a gaming journalist very early on in life after reading Nintendo Power.

Jason is a jack of all trades when it comes to gaming journalism. He’s a key writer in Sportskeeda's MMO department, but he also likes to help out in other categories, like streamers, RPG, card games, and whatever else is needed. A solo gamer at heart, Jason's favorite titles include Earthbound and Dragon Warrior.

Jason places high value on accuracy and relevance in his write-ups. He achieves this with thorough research to sift facts from rumors. One of the biggest highlights of his career is his interview with Canadian pro wrestler Kenny Omega about his inclusion in the Like a Dragon game series. He is also good friends with journalist Kazumo Hashimoto, who he admires for the kind of stories he works on and his deep ethics.

A true cinephile, one of Jason’s primary hobbies involves enjoying cinematic experiences. He also loves reading, be it fiction or manga, when not working. Additionally, he streams on Twitch and posts his gaming insights on YouTube.

Know More

Edited by Jason Parker