For over a year, Game of Thrones fans have been awaiting the seventh season of HBO’s sprawling epic. Winter finally came Sunday.
Sunday morning, the hashtags #GameofThrones and #WinterIsHere — sporting “The Night King” — were already trending on Twitter. The tweetstorm continued as fans counted the hours till the 9 p.m. release. And the characters were happy to join in.
Here’s a look at how the show engaged with its energetic fan base as the buzz peaked right up to the big premiere.
The official Game of Thrones account started off the day:
Tonight, #WinterIsHere.
“Dragonstone” premieres tonight at 9PM on @HBO. pic.twitter.com/498IZyDsQs— Game Of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) July 16, 2017
The main account added content as the day progressed, and fans took to Twitter using the hashtags to share their own tweets and . Among the participants: Grumpy Cat.
I was King once. It was awful. #GrumpOfThrones #WinterIsHere #GameOfThones #GoTS7 pic.twitter.com/X3ScIllTvj
— Grumpy Cat (@RealGrumpyCat) July 16, 2017
Some national brands also worked it into their advertising, adding to the hype.
Winter has arrived, and with it the Night King. Here's what we know about the icy villain. #Winterishere https://t.co/RfbW4L6XyU
— AT&T (@ATT) July 14, 2017
Another company that jumped into the action was Four Loko, capitalizing on the older fan demographic by rolling out adult beverages inspired by the show.
A battle of ice and fire so Bold they’ll sing songs about it. Are you going House Frost or House Blaze tonight? pic.twitter.com/WVP3UkgIg9
— Four Loko (@fourloko) July 16, 2017
But it wasn’t just the famous. Other fans were putting their cognitive surplus to good use.
After more than one year “sleeping”, in some hours @gameofthrones wakes up again. Welcome to the hype. #Winterishere pic.twitter.com/dAil8A9AZ7
— Javier Zafra (@H2Kzafra) July 16, 2017
HBO also took to Snapchat to engage the audience in real time. With a Game-of-Thrones-themed filter, fans were able to use the platform to make themselves the Night King. And several shared those snaps on Twitter.
My grand baby is ready for tonight! #WinterisHere @GameOfThrones @WiCnet @HBO pic.twitter.com/vOKuZd9lO9
— King in the North (@supernerd4123) July 16, 2017
How much did all of this Twitter hype play into the show’s popularity? Though HBO did not release specific analytics, Twitter statistics revealed a spike in traffic, tweets, and followers.
Before (4 p.m.): 5.81 million followers
After (Midnight): 5.84 million followers
At the time of the show, about 249,000 #GOT7 tweets in the United States were trending, including several from characters themselves, according to Twitter.
"Leave one wolf alive and the sheep are never safe." #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/2ZgbVY8vET
— Jon Snow (@LordSnow) July 17, 2017
It also outpaced Google searches for “Wimbledon,” the other big weekend event.
And all of that online attention had a tangible impact. By the end of the episode, an estimated 10.1 million watched the Game of Thrones Season 7 premiere, up from 7.9 million from last season.
Fly, dragon, fly. #GameOfThrones brought in 10.1M viewers last night. That's up 27% from last season's April debut (7.9M viewers), per HBO pic.twitter.com/RZqvzbNzuh
— Frank Pallotta (@frankpallotta) July 17, 2017
After the airing, fans were eager to tweet their excitement and knowledge to reveal their extreme fandom. Several tweeted spoilers about the highlights from the episode. Such excitement reveals the well-established community built around the brand, willing to share their enthusiasm for a fantasy world of George R.R. Martin.
The opening of season 7 has everyone like.. ?? #GOTS7 #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/m0nQ4Cxbqi
— Kimberly Close (@KimberlyClose91) July 17, 2017
(SPOILER WARNING)
For those of you wanting to see how some fans shared their spoilers on Twitter:
When Arya Stark commit a mass murder: #GoTS7#GameofThrones pic.twitter.com/RTrgUjlmH4
— Leksa Heda (@LeksaPH) July 17, 2017
What Sam thought his dream job would be vs what it turned out to be. #GameofThrones #GoTS7 pic.twitter.com/TOctiafS83
— Salim Stark (@SalimAlSamar) July 17, 2017