Last August, Blizzard struck out against popular World of Warcraft private server Turtle WoW with a court case aimed at thwarting things outright. It’s taken eight months, but things have gone pretty much the way most of us expected: Turtle WoW has lost.
It is, to my mind, a classic story of Icarus flying too close to the sun. The Turtle team was bullish enough to make some pretty clear-cut copyright infringement mistakes, and now the party’s over.
No Just Reason For Delay
“The Court finds there is no just reason for delay in entering this Judgment and Permanent Injunction,” concludes the official legal ruling against Turtle WoW, “and, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54, the Court directs immediate entry of this Judgment and Permanent Injunction against Defendants.”
That pretty much says it all. Blizzard leveled seven claims against Turtle WoW (“an entity of AFKCraft Limited, a Hong Kong Company”), and all seven were ruled in the World of Warcraft maker’s favor. The largest classic server in the world’s biggest MMO has been ordered to close up shop. In particular, the defendants have summarily been told to cease and desist from “developing, programming, coding, operating, updating, supporting, maintaining, distributing, marketing, facilitating, or promoting, or assisting or encouraging the creation, marketing, or promotion of” Turtle WoW. And that’s just the beginning of the first paragraph in a multi-paragraph extravaganza that states in no uncertain terms that there’s no more turtling to come.
Turtle WoW supporters aren’t exactly pleased. Many shuffled over out of dislike for Activision Blizzard’s modern practices. “My wow gaming ends with twow,” says the top comment in the above Reddit thread. “No way I’m paying for that bot infested rmt slop.blizzard puts out.” As one of the responses notes, and I’m inclined to agree, streamers catching on to Turtle WoW’s existence elevated its notoriety… and spelled an inevitable end.
Wherever you happen to stand on the matter, if Turtle WoW was the ground beneath your WoW-playing feet, you’re about to lose your footing.
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