Blizzard and Turtle WoW settle: permanent injunction ends the Classic+ project

Turtle WoW's legal fight with Blizzard Entertainment ended in mid-April 2026 with a settlement in the Central District of California. The court entered a permanent injunction against AFKCraft Ltd. and affiliated parties. Blizzard's win was reported between 11 and 13 April, and the consent judgment was entered shortly afterwards.

Under the order, AFKCraft and its affiliates must:

• stop hosting, developing and maintaining the Turtle WoW servers and the modded client
• halt development of "Turtle WoW 2.0", the Unreal Engine project
• stop soliciting donations or any financial transactions for the service
• not transfer source code, databases or social accounts to third parties, to prevent a rebrand or relaunch

The Turtle WoW team waived its right to appeal, and the donation shop was disabled immediately. Proceedings are stayed until 8 June 2026 so the parties can finalise the settlement.

How the case started

Blizzard filed the suit on 29 August 2025, alleging copyright and trademark infringement, circumvention of technical protections and RICO violations. The complaint also pointed to the project's monetisation and its public mockery of Blizzard. In October 2025 Turtle WoW responded with an open letter proposing a licensing framework.

Update: within days of the settlement, the team announced a sunset date of 15 May 2026.