Game of Thrones Season 7 Ordered, No Word on How Many Episodes

HBO announced today that it has renewed Game of Thrones, Silicon Valley, and Veep for new seasons to premiere in 2017. The order comes as the three shows are all set to debut their latest seasons this Sunday, April 24.

The renewal of Game of Thrones specifically comes as little surprise. Executive producers David Benioff and DB Weiss have talked about ending the show after its eighth season. More recently, it was reported that the final two seasons will be shorter than the first six, containing 13 episodes between them. Previous seasons have always contained ten episodes.

"I think we're down to our final 13 episodes after this season. We're heading into the final lap," Benioff said earlier this month. "That's the guess, though nothing is yet set in stone, but that's what we're looking at."

Today's press release from HBO made no mention of how many episodes Game of Thrones' next season will include, nor did it provide any details on the story. The show is based on George RR Martin's novel series, which he has not yet finished.

Game of Thrones season six debuts on HBO on April 24. For more, check out GameSpot's roundup of all the news, videos, and images for it.

If Game of Thrones does come to a close after Season 8, that won't necessarily signal the end of the franchise. HBO programming president Michael Lombardo has said a prequel series is possible, while Martin himself has come forward with some ideas for spinoffs.

Today's order brings political comedy Veep, starring Seinfeld's Julia Louis-Dreyfus,into its sixth season, while 2017's season of Silicon Valley will be its fourth.