After Turtle WoW and Ascension
What happened to Turtle WoW?
Short answer
Turtle WoW closed permanently in May 2026. After Blizzard's lawsuit, a court entered a consent judgment and permanent injunction on 15 April 2026; Turtle announced its shutdown on 18 April and went offline around 15 May. Characters did not move anywhere. Players who want the vanilla world can start fresh on another realm, such as Keldurn.
Key facts
| Consent judgment and injunction | 15 April 2026 |
|---|---|
| Shutdown announced | 18 April 2026 |
| Realms offline | Around 15 May 2026, alongside Stormforge |
| Case closed | Dismissal filed 29 May 2026 |
| Characters | Not transferable to any other server |
| Keldurn | Free vanilla 1.12 realm, playable in a browser |
What the court order covers
According to the reporting and court records linked below, the injunction bars Turtle's operator from running or developing private servers, modified clients or successor projects for Blizzard games, and from handing its code or assets to others.
In practice that means there is no official path for Turtle to return in its previous form.
Where Turtle players can play now
Players who came for Turtle's custom races, zones and class changes will not find those on a 1.12 realm. Players who came for the original world, slow levelling and group dungeons can find it on blizzlike realms.
Keldurn is one of them: the complete 1.12 content at x1 rates on one PvP realm, playable in a browser, on a phone or with a Windows client, with no install needed to start.
What this means for Turtle guilds
Guilds that kept a channel outside the game survived the shutdown best: they could vote on a new home and arrive together. If your guild scattered, a single post with a date, a realm and a faction is often enough to regroup.
Decide first whether the group wants custom content or the original world. That one answer rules out half of the options and avoids splitting the guild across realms.
Questions players ask
Can I get my Turtle WoW characters back?
No. Characters stayed on Turtle's servers and did not transfer anywhere. Every other realm starts you fresh.
Was Stormforge closed too?
Yes. Reporting on the shutdown lists Stormforge going offline at the same time as Turtle WoW.
Sources
Updated September 29, 2026. Keldurn is an independent project compatible with the 1.12.1 era. It is not affiliated with Blizzard Entertainment.