• by Colin Kirkland , August 19, 2022

To coincide with the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel -- the HBO Original Series House of the Dragon -- Snap Inc. and HBO Max are bringing dragons from the show to cities around the world via location-based augmented reality (AR) experiences. 

Alongside the show’s premiere this coming Sunday, HBO Max will release a new selfie and world-facing AR Lens that transforms Snapchatters into a fire-breathing dragon. 

In worldview, the Lens -- which will go live in Australia, Europe, India, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and North America -- also leverages sky segmentation technology to unleash flying, fire-breathing dragons. 

Snap and HBO Max have also coordinated with members of Snap’s global Lens Network to build custom Landmarker AR experiences in various local markets. 

Snap says this is the first partnership to pair a brand with a diverse group of Lens Creators at a global scale. 

Landmarker Lenses, which have been used over the past several years in a variety of ways, will continue Snap’s vision of taking over buildings with Game of Thrones dragons, first seen in 2019 during the show’s final season premiere when an ice dragon flew along the Flatiron building in New York.

Each Lens creator personally selected the location for their individual Landmarker Lens.

During the show’s Sunday premiere, Lenses will launch in places like Los Angeles’s Venice Beach Grand Canals, Rio De Janeiro's Princess Isabel Statue, London’s Tower Bridge, Mumbai’s CST Station, and more. 

Snap says the global campaign will continue to evolve over the course of the season, totaling around 20 additional Landmarker Lenses from creators in over 10 more countries.

Landmarker Lenses will be focused on three key show moments, Snap adds: “The series premiere, pivotal mid-season episodes, and the season finale in late September.”