‘Game Of Thrones’ Gets Renewed For Two More Seasons As ‘GoT’ Season 4 Breaks Viewer, Piracy Records

“Game of Thrones” Season 4 premiered on Sunday and broke plenty of viewing records. While it seemed likely HBO would keep the show around, the channel confirmed it has renewed the series for two more seasons.

Fans can rest easy knowing that more of the “Song of Ice and Fire” saga will have a home on HBO. The “Game of Thrones” series renewal was expected and seasons 5 and 6 should cover the fourth and fifth books of George R.R. Martin’s series, “A Feast for Crows” and “A Dance with Dragons,” respectively.

HBO programming president Michael Lombardo said in a statement, “'Game of Thrones' is a phenomenon like no other. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, along with their talented collaborators, continue to surpass themselves, and we look forward to more of their dazzling storytelling.”

The “Game of Thrones” Season 4 premiere, “Two Swords” drew record ratings, 6.6 million for the 9 p.m. EDT debut and an additional 1.6 million following replays, which was an improvement from the Season 3 premiere and finale. "Game of Thrones" has become HBO's most watched show since "The Sopranos" and it seems unlikely HBO would not air the entirety of the "Song of Ice and Fire" series.

As "Game of Thrones" breaks viewership records it is also breaking records of a more dubious kind. The Season 4 premiere continued the trend of breaking piracy records. Within an hour after "Two Swords" aired there were many torrents available to download. According to TorrentFreak, "Two Swords" was downloaded more than 1 million times in one day.

With the future of "Game of Thrones" secure on HBO the next step is for Martin to complete the next book in the series, "Winds of Winter." "Game of Thrones" airs on Sunday on HBO.