Game of Thrones to end after season 8, spinoff remains possible

HBO has confirmed what Game of Thronesfans never wanted to hear: The fantasy-thriller phenomenon will be coming to an end after its eighth season.

Recently HBO renewed the series adapted from George R.R. Martin's novels for a shortened seventh season consisting of seven episodes.

The eighth season will bring the saga to a close. The number of episodes for that last cycle has not been determined, HBO programming chief Casey Bloys said Saturday at the Television Critics Association's summer conference in Los Angeles. "We'll take as many as the (producers) will give us," he said.

After that, a spinoff remains a possibility.

"We're open to it, the (producers) aren't opposed to it, but there's no concrete plans right now," Bloys said.

GOT won't be back with its seventh season until next summer, missing the deadline for the 2017 Emmy competition, which it routinely dominates. Last year, the series scored a dozen Emmys.

• Game of Thrones leads 2016 Emmy nominations with 23

"It's always better to win more Emmys," Bloys said. "But the main goal is to do the best show possible for our subscribers and fans."