HBO Max Crashes For Thousands In The Minutes After ‘House Of The Dragon’ Premieres

The HBO Max streaming service crashed for thousands of users when “House of the Dragon,” a long-awaited “Game of Thrones” prequel series, made its debut on Sunday night, according to HBO and Downdetector, which tracks website outages.

“Game of Thrones” fans had been eagerly waiting for new content since the series finished in 2019, but for some viewers on Sunday night, the wait lasted a little longer.

There were more than 3,700 reports of HBO Max being down in the minutes after “House of the Dragon” premiered, according to Downdetector.

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According To HBO Max’s Spokesman 

An HBO Max spokesman said that millions of viewers had watched the show on Sunday night. “We are aware of a small portion of users attempting to connect via Fire TV devices that are having issues,” he said, “and are in the process of resolving for those impacted users.” Fire TV is a line of video-streaming devices owned by Amazon.com Inc.

A flood of HBO Max subscribers took to Twitter to vent about the outage. Some users said they were close to a breakdown. Other users joked that they weren’t surprised about the timing of the crash.

“Game of Thrones” was a critical and cultural phenomenon over the eight seasons it aired, captivating viewers with its fantastical story lines and abundant production. More than 19 million viewers watched the 2019 series finale, an HBO record.

HBO had considered five potential series for spinoffs before choosing “House of the Dragon,” which is set two centuries before its predecessor and covers the looming civil war within the House Targaryen dynasty.

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George’s Statement 

George R.R. Martin, the author who crafted the “Game of Thrones” universe, was said to have signed an eight-figure deal with HBO last year to work on the new series.

HBO is betting big time on “House of the Dragon,” which premiered during a tumultuous time for its owner. Discovery Inc. took over HBO, CNN, and other media assets from AT&T Inc., forming a new company called Warner Bros. (Discovery Inc).

The company has been cost-cutting and reorganizing in recent months, canceling the CNN+ streaming service and laying off about 14% of HBO employees.

Streaming services, including HBO Max, Netflix Inc., Hulu, and Apple TV+, have had a hard time holding onto subscribers in recent years as the streaming market has become increasingly saturated with options. According to Antenna, a subscriber-management firm, almost a fifth of subscribers to premium services like HBO Max and Netflix canceled at least three subscriptions between June 2020 and June this year.