After 14 Years, 2026 Will Be the Biggest Year Ever for Game of Thrones Fans

Game of Thrones is set to have its biggest ever year in 2026, despite the main series concluding in 2019. It’s been six years since Game of Thrones‘ ending caused a major backlash, and while the series finale is still the subject of ire, the franchise – and, to a degree, its fans – have moved on to other things. This is a series and world that’s always been about expansion: the show’s story, budget, and spectacle got bigger and bigger every year. The same is true for the franchise as a whole, with HBO exploring multiple spinoffs since the show ended.

So far, only one has actually come to fruition in House of the Dragon, and even that has faced criticism – including from A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin. There have been some failed attempts along the way, too: a prequel about the Long Night was shelved, despite a reported $25-30 million being spent on a pilot episode, which will likely never see the light of day; Kit Harington and HBO were developing a Jon Snow spinoff, but that was scrapped as they couldn’t find a story. Others in development include Aegon’s Conquest and 10,000 Ships (about Princess Nymeria leading her people, the Rhoynar, to Dorne), but next year is where things will get really interesting for Game of Thrones‘ spinoffs.

2026 Will Have A Franchise First For Game of Thrones: Two Shows Releasing

As it stands, House of the Dragon Season 3 is expected to release sometime in 2026. Filming on the third season started in March 2025 and is expected to run until October of this year. That positions the series nicely for a release in the second half of next year, not dissimilar to previous releases. Season 2 finished filming at the end of September 2023 and started airing on HBO in June 2024.

Season 1 debuted in August, and so if the network wants to keep the trend of summer releases intact, it would appear to be within reach. Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and HBO Max Content, suggested June as the target released date in an interview with Deadline after the Emmys 2025. Even if things are a little delayed, which is possible with this being the biggest season yet and likely requiring more time in post-production, it looks like being able to return to screens next year, even if it’s in the fall instead. It’s not unthinkable that it gets pushed to 2027, of course, but that could create a near three-year gap between seasons, something that’s already a problem with streaming shows.

Before then, though, HBO will be debuting A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Based on Martin’s The Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, the series will follow Dunk, a hedge knight, and his squire, Egg, on journeys around Westeros, with Season 1 largely taking place at a tourney. Production actually wrapped in 2024 ahead of an expected 2025 release, but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was delayed to early 2026. An exact release date has not yet been confirmed, but Bloys told Variety it would be in January.

That’ll mean two Game of Thrones shows in the same year for the first time ever, which makes it the franchise’s biggest year since the parent series started back in 2011. That was another banner year for the franchise, not only with the premiere of Thrones itself, but also the release of A Dance with Dragons, the fifth and most recent book in A Song of Ice and Fire. Of course, the franchise wasn’t the pop-culture behemoth it is now, making 2026 an even bigger deal. And who knows, maybe we’ll even get some firm news on The Winds of Winter (because it’s nice to dream), or another spinoff ordered to series.

Is Two TV Shows In The Same Year Good For The Game of Thrones Franchise?

The backlash to Game of Thrones never really hurt the franchise itself. While people like to say that no one talks about it anymore because of the finale, that doesn’t hold true when it comes to watching it. Thrones has regularly been among the biggest shows on HBO Max (and still a piracy hit, too), and House of the Dragon has also been a major ratings success, albeit a little less so – but that’s more because the way people consume media has completely changed in recent years, rather than reception to the franchise. Westeros is still big business, so it’s not surprising HBO is pushing it more in 2026.

At the same time, there is a risk of oversaturation. This is something we’ve seen across the streaming landscape with major IPs, most notably Star Wars and Marvel on Disney+. They expanded far too quickly into streaming, and it came at the cost of both quality control and audience investment. There are still several MCU shows in 2025, due to earlier plans being in place, but from next year, there’ll be a sense of scaling back, something Star Wars is already doing. And if that’s the case, is HBO zagging when other studios have decided to zig?

There’s certainly a risk of having too much Game of Thrones, even if the approach has, for the most part, been a cautious one before now. It hasn’t rushed any spinoffs out, and again, things like Bloodmoon and the Jon Snow sequel were shelved because they couldn’t get them right, which is encouraging in terms of quality. The two series coming in 2026 are also quite different: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is much smaller in scale and a little lighter in tone. That could be good for audiences, though there’s also a concern that it’ll not be as big a hit because it’s not as big in scope (and won’t have any dragons).

The ideal scenario, of course, would’ve been to have A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms release in 2025, and then alternate years with House of the Dragon. And then, when that show is done, they could unveil the next prequel. Depending on how those other spinoffs progress, this could become more of a problem.

Based on its current pace, it’s fair to expect House of the Dragon Season 4 (the show’s last) to be released in 2028. That same year, we could see A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 3, as there’s already been renewal talk and, if that happens, HBO may shoot Seasons 2 and 3 back-to-back to avoid the child actor getting too old. And if another spinoff is greenlit by next year and in production by 2027, could we be looking at three Game of Thrones shows in 2028? That’s maybe getting a little carried away, but it’s also plausible, and is the kind of expansion to be wary of. The future for the franchise is bright, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is particularly exciting, but hopefully it can get the release balance right, and audiences will be there for it.

All seasons of Game of Thrones are streaming on HBO Max, alongside House of the Dragon Seasons 1 and 2.

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