Game Of Thrones Season 8 Release Has Some Terrible News

Get ready to settle in, Game of Thrones fans, because you've got quite the wait ahead of you for the eighth and final season of the show. Given the need to wrap up everything that's developed over the past seven seasons, it wasn't hard to imagine that the wait for the next season would be an extended one. As it turns out, that notion was right on the money.

HBO announced today that Game of Thrones won't be returning until 2019. We aren't given a more specific release date than that, which means that we could very well be waiting the better part of two years by the time everything is said and done. The final season will be a mere six episodes long – the shortest season to date – which may add to the disappointment for some.

Alas, we can't even look to past seasons for an idea of when HBO might premiere season 8. Though it generally stuck with a spring release schedule for most of the seasons, last season it changed things up, premiering later in the year. In other words, HBO had made it clear that it won't speed up production to meet a specific release window, so it's hard to make any predictions about a potential premiere date.

Though it doesn't give us the exact release date we're looking for, HBO's announcement isn't totally devoid of important details. We learn that the six episodes will be directed by David Nutter, Miguel Sapochnik, and the pair of David Benioff and DB Weiss, who also serve as producers of the show. Writers for the season include Weiss and Benioff, along with Bryan Cogman and Dave Hill.

Other than those morsels, we're left waiting for more information. We'll almost certainly be waiting a while, given that the new season won't premiere until 2019. Sit tight, because once new details are available, we'll have them for you here at SlashGear.