Game of Thrones will start streaming in 4K on HBO Max

HBO is ramping up to the release of House of the Dragon, its follow-up to Game of Thrones. As such, starting in August, subscribers to HBO Max will be able to stream the original series in high-definition 4K, according to The Verge. Because you haven’t lived until you’ve seen every pore on Daenerys Targaryen’s face.

Although, only those who are subscribed to HBO Max’s ad-free plan, which runs $14.99 a month or $149.99 a year, will get the 4K treatment. House of the Dragon, which is set some 200 years before Game of Thrones, will be available to watch in 4K from the jump.

And this isn’t all HBO is doing to hype up the new spinoff…

Raise your own dragon with the DracARys app

This past weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, HBO debuted an augmented reality app called House of The Dragon: DracARys. (Geddit, cause the ‘A’ and ‘R’ are capitalized? You get it.) Per the press release:

"With the app, fans around the world will be able to “hatch” and raise their own virtual dragons at home. Each dragon will be unique to its user, and as it grows it will develop its own look and temperament driven by its keeper’s interactions with it, all based on the lore from George R.R. Martin’s world. Users will also learn Valyrian words from “House of the Dragon” to command their dragon through a bespoke voice recognition system. Dragons will grow to enormous size, hitting developmental milestones on their way to full adulthood where they will be able to roam the world for other users across the world to see and interact with."

HBO Max executive Victor Pineiro is very bullish on this technology. “With ‘House of the Dragon: DracARys’ we have built the most personalized, responsive, virtual creature to ever live on your phone, brought to life in the latest augmented reality technology,” he said. “We can’t wait for fans to engage with DracARys and further immerse themselves in the world of Westeros.”

You can download DracARys from the Apple and Google Play stores.

See Aemond Targaryen approach Vhagar in House of the Dragon

I’m just noticing this, but HBO snuck some cool scenes into that trailer for its app! We get a glimpse of a dragon flying over the streets of King’s Landing as people go about their day nonchalantly, and another shot of a young Aemond Targaryen, a key character in the series, approaching the dragon Vhagar, the biggest alive during this time period.

This is good stuff that didn’t make its way into the official trailer, not even the expanded version:

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