On 29 August 2026 Project Ascension announced that all of its World of Warcraft realms would permanently shut down on Saturday 4 September at 7pm PT / 10pm ET, which is 3am BST / 4am CEST on 5 September. The decision was described as a "mutual agreement" with Blizzard Entertainment, following the cease-and-desist and lawsuit filed in June 2026.
The team released its remaining planned content before removing all WoW material, thanked players for "an unforgettable journey," and stated that all development would shift to something new, unrelated to WoW or any Blizzard game. Player accounts and the launcher were to be preserved for that project.
Ascension's closure completed a year-long wave of enforcement that began with the Turtle WoW lawsuit in August 2025 and also took down Stormforge. Two days later, on 31 August, the team revealed that its next game would be an original MMO simply called Ascension.