Another private World of Warcraft server goes offline
Another private World of Warcraft server will soon be history, as the creators of Stormforge have announced the project’s closure following a cease and desist letter from developer Blizzard. In a post on the Stormforge website, the development team stated that after receiving a cease and desist letter and having positive discussions with Blizzard’s legal department, they have agreed to cease operations, development, and distribution of the project by May 14th.
Stormforge allows users to play modified versions of various old World of Warcraft expansions for free and without a subscription.
“We know this is not good news. Over the years, we have always strived to offer the best possible player experience and the highest quality. We have invested years of hard work, dedication, and passion into building Stormforge and couldn’t be prouder of what we have achieved and the community we have created.”
Stormforge Team
Private World of Warcraft servers: First Turtle WoW, then Stormforge
This is the second server of its kind to announce its impending shutdown this month. Another, larger private server, Turtle WoW, also announced its shutdown in the coming weeks. Unlike Stormforge, Blizzard sued the Turtle WoW developers for copyright infringement and won the case. However, the two parties have since reached an out-of-court settlement, so Blizzard is withdrawing the lawsuit.
Of the two servers, Turtle WoW was definitely the much larger. While Stormforge offered slightly modified versions of World of Warcraft expansions like The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Mists of Pandaria (expansions that Blizzard has officially re-released in recent years), Turtle WoW took a different approach, developing entirely new expansions and content for the original World of Warcraft. Both Turtle WoW and Stormforge offered players the option to spend real money. On Stormforge, players could use the premium currency to purchase heirlooms, consumables, and transmogrification items.
This isn’t the first time Blizzard has taken action against popular private servers. The previous high-profile shutdown involved the original WoW private server, Nostalrius, in 2016. About a year later, at BlizzCon 2017, Blizzard officially announced WoW Classic, a return to the version of Azeroth before the expansion.
The shutdowns of Turtle WoW and Stormforge have fans speculating whether Blizzard is planning another major announcement for WoW Classic this year. Old-school WoW fans have been requesting new content for the original WoW Classic (also known as Classic+) for years.
It seems Blizzard is about to make a major announcement regarding this at this year’s BlizzCon, after already hinting at it earlier this year during a presentation of the 2026 roadmap. The fact that Stormforge mentions “positive” discussions with Blizzard’s legal department in its statement adds another interesting twist to the story surrounding the private servers. However, fans will likely have to wait until BlizzCon in September for official information about the next steps.
