Blizzard Files Lawsuit Against Turtle WoW, One of the Largest WoW Private Servers

Blizzard Entertainment has filed a federal lawsuit against the operators of “Turtle WoW” today, alleging the private server enterprise infringes World of Warcraft copyrights and trademarks, circumvents anti-piracy protections, and even constitutes a racketeering enterprise. The complaint was filed August 29, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Case No. 2:25-cv-08194).

Turtle WoW has long been regarded as one of the largest and most active private WoW servers, offering new zones, races, music, and events layered atop Blizzard’s 2004-era game. Blizzard’s complaint stresses it supports legal player creativity through official channels but argues private servers like Turtle WoW “devalue the WoW experience” and cause serious harm to the brand and business.

Blizzard also points to Turtle WoW’s fan-made expansion, “Mysteries of Azeroth,” and marketing for “Turtle WoW 2.0,” which purportedly seeks to recreate WoW in Unreal Engine 5 with visual upgrades, all positioned to compete with Blizzard’s own World of Warcraft Classic. The company says the site and social channels use unlicensed WoW imagery and that the project generates “substantial revenue” via “donations” rewarded with in-game cosmetics like mounts and pets.

Time will tell if the lawsuit has any actual impact of Turtle WoW, as the lawsuit alleges the mastermind behind the operation is a Russian named Yulia “Torta/Shenna” Savko. Other defendents including programmers working for Turtle WoW across Europe and at least on American who led the marketing and PR efforts for the game. Blizzard seeks an injunction and monetary damages. An injunction is meant to halt the infringing activities, but given the country of origin for the owner of the operation, any ruling by a U.S. court will likely be unenforceable.

Further reading: Lawsuit