In addition to unreleased and disappearing content, there have been many complaints about the HBO Max streaming apps since launch. Still, they’ve generally held up well under the stress of premieres for content like Principle, Wonder Woman, The Matrixor west worldbut for HBO there may not be such a thing as a Game of Thrones premiere.
Tonight the debut of the show’s spin-off, House of the Dragonis the first taste of a new GOT experience within HBO Max, and while many people who try to stream the premiere episode watch without a hitch, others said the app crashed or crashed on them as soon as it got past the pre-show teaser trailer.
Based on posts on Twitter, reddit, and elsewhere, it seems that most people who have issues are using an Amazon Fire TV platform or a Fire Stick. It’s unclear why that app in particular would have problems, but if you’re using it and can’t watch it, you can try switching if you can’t wait to see all the Targarayens working on it. If it’s your main streaming device, another piece of advice people have reported success with is to create a new profile.
In a statement emailed to The edge, Chris Willard of HBO said: “House of the Dragon is successfully watched by millions of HBO Max subscribers tonight. We are aware of a small fraction of users trying to connect through Fire TV devices who are having issues and are currently resolving for the affected users.”
Whatever the problem, don’t expect this recurrence in future seasons — they’ll have a new app next year anyway.
Update August 21, 10:40 PM ET: Updated with statement from HBO.