Game of Thrones season 7 date revealed, teaser trailer released

Jon Snow is set to return to our screens this July.

Winter is coming - and so is Game of Thrones.

The blockbuster series has revealed its return date via a livestream of a melting block of ice.

Season seven of the popular series will arrive in New Zealand on July 17.

The livestream on the Game of Thrones official Facebook page depicted a block of ice encasing the premiere date, while viewers were encouraged to type "fire" or "dracarys" in the comments to melt the ice.

For over an hour, flamethrowers were blown at the ice until it melted away, revealing the release date as 07.16.17.

A teaser trailer was then played, which featured house insignia crumbling to pieces as fragments of dialogue from previous seasons can be heard.

The teaser ends with Jon Snow saying, "There is only one war that matters; the great war. And it is here."

Game of Thrones Season 7: Official Tease: Sigils

The great war is here. #GoTS7 premieres 7.16.

Posted by Game of Thrones on Thursday, 9 March 2017

The show's elaborate live stream didn't fly with everyone, however; technical malfunctions interrupted the event twice, leaving over 100,000 viewers thinking they had watched ice melt for no reason.

wtf are you playing at @gameofthrones get your act together

— m 🔮 (@1ivingonacloud) March 9, 2017

Next year, @HBO, a press release will do. #GameOfThrones

— Not Bri. Just me. (@BeautyBrienne) March 9, 2017

Well 15 mins of melting ice later, this happened--without a Game of Thrones premiere date: pic.twitter.com/kBVBoMAHmo

— John Koblin (@koblin) March 9, 2017

I watched ice melting for 15 minutes just so the live stream could end #GoTS7

— osha (@oshawildling) March 9, 2017

The new season will be seven episodes instead of the usual 10.

Sky Television will simulcast the episodes on SoHo and make them immediately available on streaming service Neon.

Yesterday, HBO released the poster for season 7, teasing a conflict of ice and fire.

Posted by Game of Thrones on Thursday, 9 March 2017