The team behind Turtle WoW is starting fresh with a new MMO: "We know this is an enormous undertaking"

Just two weeks on from the complete shutdown of Turtle WoW, the fan-run private server network for World of Warcraft, its creators have made a decision about what’s next – and it’s a big one. “This isn’t the end of our journey together, but rather the beginning of a new one,” the group of developers confirms. They’re forging a new studio together, Moonwhisper Games, which will be building a new MMORPG of its very own. While that’s inherently a very scary prospect, the team says it’s “under no illusion” about the challenges that lie ahead.

“Over the past few weeks, many of you have been asking what comes next for us after the closure of our realms. Today, we’re finally ready to share the answer,” Developer ‘Jamey’ writes in the group’s Discord server. All of the Turtle WoW servers were shut down on Friday May 15, a month after the group reached a settlement with Blizzard in a protracted legal dispute around its use of the World of Warcraft IP. Now, the team confirms that its plan is to start completely fresh, and it remains committed to the MMO formula.

“We will be building something from the ground up: our own story, our own world, and our own IP. For a long time, we debated what kind of game we wanted to make… What was realistic, and what wasn’t. But after seeing the farewell you gave to our realms, it became clear to us what kind of game we truly wanted to create: a world where we could one day see all of you together again. A game we ourselves would want to play, and a game we would enjoy creating regardless of the time, risks, and costs involved.”

Naturally, there will be plenty of skepticism – of all the genres, MMOs are a notoriously difficult space to break into. The newly formed Moonwhisper Games is well aware of this. “We know this is an enormous undertaking. MMOs are among the most ambitious and demanding projects in game development, and we’re under no illusion that this is something that can be built quickly or easily.

“At the same time, we’re not starting from scratch completely,” it continues. “We have spent years building MMO experiences, managing communities, creating content, and learning both the strengths and shortcomings of the genre. We know how challenging this road will be, but we also know it’s a challenge worth taking on.”

Moonwhisper says, “Right now, our focus is on laying the foundations: building the world, developing its lore and history, defining the core gameplay pillars, and creating the groundwork upon which everything else will be built. While there’s still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us, we’re excited to share that journey with you and hope you’ll support us along the way.” It directs anyone interested to a new X account.

The team adds that it is currently stripping “all private server emulation-related content” out of its Discord server, which will become the home for Moonwhisper Games moving forward. “We’d also like it to remain a place where people can simply enjoy games together, discover new ones, and keep the friendships that were formed here over the years,” it concludes. “We have stories to tell, and you’ll be hearing much more from us as development moves forward. Thank you.”