Blizzard takes legal action to shut down WoW’s Project Epoch after 25K players join

Blizzard shut down Project Epoch, a short-lived World of Warcraft private server, with a cease-and-desist that ended its 25,000-player run.

Though it had been in the works since late 2021, Project Epoch launched in July 2025 and grew rapidly in popularity. It aimed to recreate an alternate WoW timeline with custom features.

The server quickly drew more than 25,000 players at its peak. Average daily counts hit 8,000, keeping activity steady at all hours. Reddit threads filled with community posts. Discord channels surged with jokes and memes.

It became the go-to private server in just weeks. But its quick end mirrored the fate of many other WoW projects.

Blizzard shut down Project Epoch with cease-and-desist

On September 9, developers announced on Discord that Blizzard sent a cease-and-desist letter. The team complied immediately.

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They confirmed that all servers, the official site, and development tools would shut down. Players received notice that Project Epoch would not return under new names or management. The team stated they would not run any private servers for Blizzard or Activision games again.

Blizzard has long made its position clear. Private servers use their client, lore, and assets. That means they directly infringe copyrights. Even free servers fall under this rule, since Blizzard also sees them as competition for WoW Classic and expansions.

Security and brand risks play a role, too. A buggy private server could hurt Blizzard’s reputation. Letting one project survive could invite hundreds more. Blizzard usually ends them with cease-and-desist letters.

They rarely sue outright unless money is involved. But legal pressure alone ends most projects quickly.

The cycle has repeated many times: launch, growth, shutdown. Nostalrius was the most famous case in 2016, influencing WoW Classic.

Others like Elysium, Light’s Hope, and Turtle WoW all fell. Epoch followed the same cycle, shutting down in under two months.

Few private servers survive long-term. Most collapse from either legal threats or unsustainable growth.

World of Warcraft continues officially with retail expansions and WoW Classic. Private servers rise fast, but Blizzard always shuts them down. The future of WoW still belongs to Blizzard alone.