{"id":1885295,"date":"2026-04-13T20:15:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T17:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1885295"},"modified":"2026-04-13T20:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T17:15:15","slug":"of-course-that-leaked-2026-winds-of-winter-release-date-is-fake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1885295","title":{"rendered":"Of Course That \u2018Leaked\u2019 2026 \u2018Winds of Winter\u2019 Release Date Is Fake"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GameofThrones-2-1200×675.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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You can file this one under both internet hoax and \u201cno duh.\u201d A tweet claiming to have insider information regarding the release date of George R.R. Martin\u2019s The Winds of Winter<\/em> has turned out to be pure fantasy\u2014just like Martin\u2019s Westeros-based tale of zombies and dragons, though we sure do hope the book arrives one of these days.<\/p>\n

Entertainment Weekly reached out to Bantam Books as the viral tweet gained momentum and got this very direct response: \u201cThe online chatter you are seeing regarding a supposed leak is false.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can understand why someone would want to make up a fake story about The Winds of Winter<\/em>: it\u2019s become one of the most anticipated book releases ever, a distinction that only grows as the months and years pass without its arrival. Martin\u2019s previous release in his series, A Dance With Dragons<\/em>, hit shelves all the way back in 2011\u2014the same year Game of Thrones<\/em> debuted on HBO and brought the author\u2019s creation to an exponentially larger audience.<\/p>\n

The show ran for eight seasons and famously overtook the events chronicled in Martin\u2019s books, and fans have long hoped The Winds of Winter<\/em> might help soothe the frustration over some of Game of Thrones<\/em>\u2018 later-season story choices. Waiting for Martin\u2019s version, however, has become something of a spectator sport, as the author has kept busy with a stream of other projects while issuing occasional non-updates about Winter<\/em>\u2018s progress.<\/p>\n

The tweet, posted by one \u201cNed Stark,\u201d screenshots a message board post from a person claiming to be \u201ca production assistant at Bantam Spectra.\u201d It asserts that Martin turned in the full Winds of Winter<\/em> manuscript this past January at around 1,600 pages, with an official announcement in the works and an eye toward a holiday 2026 release.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not true. Sorry if you fell for it. We all want to believe! Fortunately, at least, our next hit of genuine Westeros content is coming to HBO this June with House of the Dragon<\/em> season three; we also have season two of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em> to look forward to next year. As for The Winds of Winter \u2026 <\/em>all we can say for certain is that we know even less than Jon Snow at this point.<\/p>\n

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Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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You can file this one under both internet hoax and \u201cno duh.\u201d A tweet claiming to have insider information regarding the release date of George R.R. Martin\u2019s The Winds of Winter<\/em> has turned out to be pure fantasy\u2014just like Martin\u2019s Westeros-based tale of zombies and dragons, though we sure do hope the book arrives one of these days.<\/p>\n

Entertainment Weekly reached out to Bantam Books as the viral tweet gained momentum and got this very direct response: \u201cThe online chatter you are seeing regarding a supposed leak is false.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can understand why someone would want to make up a fake story about The Winds of Winter<\/em>: it\u2019s become one of the most anticipated book releases ever, a distinction that only grows as the months and years pass without its arrival. Martin\u2019s previous release in his series, A Dance With Dragons<\/em>, hit shelves all the way back in 2011\u2014the same year Game of Thrones<\/em> debuted on HBO and brought the author\u2019s creation to an exponentially larger audience.<\/p>\n

The show ran for eight seasons and famously overtook the events chronicled in Martin\u2019s books, and fans have long hoped The Winds of Winter<\/em> might help soothe the frustration over some of Game of Thrones<\/em>\u2018 later-season story choices. Waiting for Martin\u2019s version, however, has become something of a spectator sport, as the author has kept busy with a stream of other projects while issuing occasional non-updates about Winter<\/em>\u2018s progress.<\/p>\n

The tweet, posted by one \u201cNed Stark,\u201d screenshots a message board post from a person claiming to be \u201ca production assistant at Bantam Spectra.\u201d It asserts that Martin turned in the full Winds of Winter<\/em> manuscript this past January at around 1,600 pages, with an official announcement in the works and an eye toward a holiday 2026 release.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not true. Sorry if you fell for it. We all want to believe! Fortunately, at least, our next hit of genuine Westeros content is coming to HBO this June with House of the Dragon<\/em> season three; we also have season two of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em> to look forward to next year. As for The Winds of Winter \u2026 <\/em>all we can say for certain is that we know even less than Jon Snow at this point.<\/p>\n

\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GameofThrones-2-1200×675.jpg”] You can file this one under both internet hoax and \u201cno duh.\u201d A tweet claiming to have insider information regarding the release date of George R.R. Martin\u2019s The Winds of Winter has turned out to be pure fantasy\u2014just like Martin\u2019s Westeros-based tale of zombies and dragons, though we sure do hope the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,53],"class_list":["post-1885295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-gizmodo-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885295","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1885295"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885295\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1885295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1885295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1885295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}