‘Game of Thrones’ to end after season 8

The eighth season of “Game of Thrones ” will be its last, HBO confirmed on Saturday. This leaves only two more seasons for the show.

The end of the hit fantasy drama has been rumored for awhile. HBO’s new programming chief, Casey Bloys, announced the final season at the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles on Saturday.

“Believe me, as the new guy, if I could get them do to more, I would take 10 more seasons,” Bloys said. “But we take their lead on what they think they can do [to make] the best version of the show.”

Last month, “Game of Thrones” executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss said they would like to end the series in 73 hours. That leaves roughly 13 more episodes of the show in two truncated seasons. Season seven of “Game of Thrones” will run only seven episodes instead of the usual 10.

Bloys said season eight’s episode count has not yet been decided. Also, he confirmed the later production start date for next season will make the series ineligible for Emmy awards in 2017.

The series is nominated for 23 awards at this year’s Emmys.​