HBO GO crashes during Game of Thrones season 7 episode 2, to internet’s dismay
During tonight’s episode of the top-rated drama series, the service crashed out for a wide array of people just trying to enjoy a crazy battle scene with Euron Greyjoy’s ships and some other good stuff. This episode was very entertaining, but not everyone got a chance to enjoy it.
We cannot say that we’re shocked over the crash, mostly because the culprit here is the same thing that it often is with the streaming platform: High traffic. 99% of the time, HBO GO doesn’t have this sort of problem. However, Game of Thrones is the #1 show on the network and it draws huge spikes. Anytime this happens to a server, it’s liable to cause some issues and you just have to be prepared for it.
Interesting, there were no issues from our vantage point with the HBO NOW platform — we’ve used it the past two weeks without a problem, though we did hear of some interruption that happened for some users during the premiere. This was far better than last year when HBO NOW crumbled completely during the premiere episode. We feel for everyone out there who’s had to go through this on separate occasions now — while most HBO users certainly have the ability to watch shows On-Demand or after the fact via their DVR, this is one of the few series out there that does really benefit from having the ability to watch it live. Otherwise, you run the risk of missing out on something substantial and many of your friends running over to you with spoilers like jerks. (Hey, we’ve probably done it, and it’s certainly been done to us.)
The ratings certainly reflect that this is a series that has quickly become appointment television to many — the season 7 premiere drew the series’ biggest numbers to date, and we have to say that it really was not even close when compared to past installments.
Fingers crossed that everyone, no matter where you are in the world, has to deal with this next week.
For further Game of Thrones coverage…
Head over here to read our full review for Sunday’s episode, just in case HBO GO died on you and you’re desperate to know what happened.
Meanwhile, there is a further preview for the next installment over at the link here. (Photo: HBO.)