HBO is committed to building out the world of Westeros on the small screen, but getting its Game of Thrones spinoffs out of production purgatory is easier said than done. Of all the prequels and sequels planned for the franchise, only one, House of the Dragon, has gotten off the ground. With that prequel headed for its third season, fans are hoping that it’s finally time for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the next Thrones-related project in the pipeline, to grace our television screens.

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms has been one of the Throneverse’s more troubled productions. It’s been in the works since 2023, and though production wrapped in 2024, its release date keeps getting kicked down the line. Knight was originally set for a Summer 2025 premiere, but last December, Variety reported that the show had been pushed to “a late 2025 launch.” Its release date was tweaked once more in May 2025, when HBO CEO Casey Bloys announced a 2026 release date.

Bloys didn’t specify the new date for Knight’s premiere — in fact, the show has never had a concrete release date — but a new report from industry leaker Daniel Richtman suggests that we may not be that far from its premiere.

Any game can explore grief and regret, but it’s horror that’s often most suited to delve into darker emotions. Turning monsters into metaphors is one of the genre’s great strengths, and in one flawed but fulfilling new horror game, its heroines' memories are the most grotesque part.

Driven by grief after her grandfather passes, Sam begins Heartworm in her room, packing for a bizarre, ill-considered journey. She’s tracked rumors of a house in the woods with a portal to the afterlife somewhere inside. No one who’s gone there has ever returned, but she can’t help herself from trying. That starts an increasingly dangerous and surreal descent through a fractured version of her memories with nothing but a camera that mysteriously repels the monsters she finds there.

From aesthetics to controls to tone, Heartworm is an homage to the horror games of the late ‘90s and early 2000s. The feel of Resident Evil, the camera mechanics of Fatal Frame, and the psyche-made-real setting of Silent Hill are all clear influences, and even its voice acting feels pitch-perfect for the era it’s trying to emulate.