Winter will be back when GAME OF THRONES makes a late summer debut in 2017.

It’s official: Season 7 of Game of Thrones is coming, but it’ll be a bit later than usual.

In an official statement, HBO programming president Casey Bloys confirmed that the show’s shooting schedule has been pushed back and as a result, the show will have a summer start date in 2017. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard this news, but Bloys is also explaining why filming was pushed back.

“Now that winter has arrived on Game of Thrones, executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss felt that the storylines of the next season would be better served by starting production a little later than usual, when the weather is changing. Instead of the show’s traditional spring debut, we’re moving the debut to summer to accommodate the shooting schedule.”

The change will mean that Game of Thrones won’t be eligible for the Emmy Awards yet year as shows must air the majority for their season by May 31st in order to the nominated.

Fans may consider this a secondary blow following the news that the next season will only be seven episodes long, bit we’re certain that the story, action, and quality will be up to par. That’s what counts, after all!

Game of Thrones Season 7 will be directed by Mark Mylod, Jeremy Podeswa, Matt Shakman and Alan Taylor. It will film primarily in Northern Ireland, with some additional locations in Spain and Iceland.