PlaySide Studios has unveiled new details about Game of Thrones: War for Westeros, its upcoming real-time strategy game based on the hit HBO series, revealing that the White Walkers will field a genuinely unsettling addition to their ranks. According to game director Ryan McMahon, the faction’s army includes ice spiders—a creature only ever referenced in George R.R. Martin’s source material and never actually shown on screen during the show’s run.
The revelation came as PlaySide promoted its upcoming title, which uses the likeness of actors like Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kit Harington, and Emilia Clarke for its hero units. While the first gameplay trailer emphasized familiar faces fighting for the Iron Throne, it also concealed this creeping addition to the Night King’s forces, a detail McMahon acknowledged most players likely missed.
A Hidden Threat from the Books
The ice spiders represent one of those delightful divergences between the show and Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire novels. In the source material, the nanny Old Nan warned children about giant spiders that lurked beneath the surface, a chilling detail that never made it to television. PlaySide has now elevated this passing reference into an actual playable unit.
“If you study it closely, which I don’t expect everyone to do, you’ll notice that the White Walker faction has spiders in the background as part of their army,” McMahon told Polygon in a virtual interview. “That’s something which has only ever been spoken about in tales by Old Nan in season 1, and that’s an actual unit in the game.”
“If you study it closely, which I don’t expect everyone to do, you’ll notice that the White Walker faction has spiders in the background as part of their army. That’s something which has only ever been spoken about in tales by Old Nan in season 1, and that’s an actual unit in the game.”
Ryan McMahon, Game Director at PlaySide Studios
McMahon explained that PlaySide’s first title, 2021’s Age of Darkness: Final Stand, was heavily inspired by the Game of Thrones franchise. The development team had watched the series and read the books multiple times, having also played both A Song of Ice & Fire Tabletop Miniatures Game and A Game of Thrones: The Board Game. When researching army compositions, they turned to Martin’s novels for details that the show never explored, though they consistently followed the television canon whenever the two diverged.
A Sandbox Driven by Betrayal
Rather than following a fixed timeline from the series, War for Westeros offers players freedom to reshape history. This flexibility extends beyond which heroes appear together; it also lets those who disliked the show’s finale steer the Seven Kingdoms toward a different outcome.
“It’s a sandbox, player-led campaign where you start with a territory that you are in on a map of Westeros that you have to go out and conquer, as well as some other objectives on the political side of things with high-stakes alliances and betrayals that determine which factions and which hero from that faction sits on the Iron Throne in the end,” McMahon said.
Claiming territory pushes players into skirmish matches decided by seizing key objectives. Conquering land remains essential for gathering resources to expand your army, while taking ground in the demo typically meant battling forces belonging to minor houses. The full game will introduce additional ways to interact with neutral factions beyond this basic mechanic.
“Borders play such a big part in Game of Thrones,” McMahon noted. “Minor lords are squabbling throughout the show about what mills belong to them, and where does their land start and end? Territory acts as a great progression pathway, so rather than being able to just rush out on the map, build whatever you want, and overwhelm your opponent, you have to pace yourself, get your economy going, get your production going, and then expand out.”
Fun Over Strict Balance
Heroes in War for Westeros fall into three categories: warriors, commanders, and support characters. This structure accommodates a frontline bruiser like The Mountain, a strategic leader such as Tywin Lannister, and a stealthy assassin like Arya Stark. Because the game ignores canonical timelines, players can forge team-ups and rivalries that never occurred in the source material.
The factions themselves offer distinct flavors. The White Walkers can deploy powerful units including giants and ice spiders, though they field fewer heroes overall. The Starks hold a relative advantage on that front, since both Robb Stark and Jon Snow can recruit their direwolves to fight alongside them.
“They don’t focus on competitive balance purity, they focus a lot more on a fun-first philosophy. We have dragons that are going to be really strong. We have White Walkers that can raise the dead. We have wildfire, which is obviously super explosive and dangerous, and we have giants and mammoths that are swinging their clubs around and knocking everyone everywhere. That’s fun and exciting to watch, and we want to make sure that we put that first.”
Ryan McMahon, Game Director at PlaySide Studios
While PlaySide drew inspiration from classic RTS series like StarCraft, Age of Empires, and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth, the studio wanted competitive matches to feel more like Super Smash Bros. or Marvel Rivals. That philosophy explains why dragons, necromancy, wildfire traps, and club-swinging giants can coexist without strict balancing constraints.
Looking Ahead
For players nervous about spiders, the White Walkers will offer plenty of reasons to keep the lights on when Game of Thrones: War for Westeros releases in early 2027. Until then, fans can look forward to learning more about how their chosen path to the Iron Throne will unfold across the sandbox campaign.
Join the conversation