Another World of Warcraft private server will soon be no more, as the creators behind Stormforge have announced the project’s shutdown following a cease and desist request from developer Blizzard.
In a post on the Stormforge website, the development team behind the server said it had agreed to cease all operations, development, and distribution of the project by May 14, following a cease and desist request and “positive” discussions with a legal entity representing Blizzard. Stormforge allows users to play modified versions of various old WoW expansions for free without a subscription.
“We know this is not easy news,” the Stormforge team wrote in a statement on the server’s website. “Over the years we have strived to deliver the best experience and the highest quality possible. We have put years of hard work, dedication, and passion into building Stormforge what it is today and we could not be more proud of what we achieved and the community we have fostered.”
It’s the second such server to announce its imminent shutdown this month. Another, larger private server, Turtle WoW, announced it too would be shutting down in the weeks ahead. Unlike Stormforge, Blizzard actually sued the creators of Turtle WoW for copyright infringement and won, though the two parties have now reached a confidential settlement that will see Blizzard dismiss its legal case.
Of the two servers, Turtle WoW was definitely the much larger entity. Whereas Stormforge offered slightly modified versions of expansions like The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and Mists of Pandaria (expansions Blizzard has officially rereleased in recent years), Turtle WoW took a different route by making all-new expansions and content for vanilla WoW. Both Turtle WoW and Stormforge featured ways players could spend real money. In Stormforge’s case, players could buy heirloom items, consumables, and transmog items using its premium currency.
It’s not the first time Blizzard has taken action against popular private servers. The previous high-profile shutdown was the vanilla WoW private server Nostalrius back in 2016. It was around a year later at BlizzCon 2017 that Blizzard would officially announce WoW Classic, a return to the pre-expansion version of Azeroth.
Turtle WoW and Stormforge’s shutdowns have fans wondering if Blizzard is preparing to make another major WoW Classic announcement later this year. New content for vanilla WoW Classic (an idea fans refer to as Classic+), has been something old-school WoW enjoyers have been vocal about wanting to see for years.
It certainly seems Blizzard is poised to make a major announcement on that front at this year’s BlizzCon following a tease during a 2026 roadmap presentation earlier this year. The fact that Stormforge’s statement notes it had “positive” discussions with Blizzard’s legal representation adds another interesting wrinkle to this private server saga, though fans will likely have to wait until BlizzCon in September to hear anything official about what’s next.
