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Game of Thrones did not have a publicly disclosed, consistently scoped budget ledger for all eight seasons. The clearest reported figures are about $6 million per episode for season 1, $100 million for season 6, and about $15 million per episode for season 8. Other figures refer to individual episodes or production spending in Northern Ireland—not a season’s full worldwide budget.
Game of Thrones budget by season
The table separates reported season budgets and per-episode estimates from regional spending and one-off episode costs. A blank season-wide figure means the cited public sources do not establish a comparable total; it does not mean the season had no budget.
| Season | What the public figures establish | How to interpret the figure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | About $6 million per episode, reported as an estimate attributed to HBO executive Francesca Orsi’s remarks (Westeros.org, 2018). | Per-episode estimate, not a disclosed season total. |
| 2 | The episode “Blackwater” reportedly cost $8 million, against an approximately $6 million episode allocation at the time (Los Angeles Times, 2016). | Cost of one episode, not the season budget. |
| 3 | No comparable season total established in the cited public reporting. | Do not infer a total by multiplying a reported episode average by the episode count. |
| 4 | £23.2 million in Northern Ireland production spend (Northern Ireland Screen). | Regional spend, not the worldwide season budget. |
| 5 | £26.3 million in Northern Ireland production spend (Northern Ireland Screen). | Regional spend, not the worldwide season budget. |
| 6 | $100 million for ten hours, or a $10 million working average per episode, according to contemporaneous Los Angeles Times reporting from 2016. | The strongest reported season-total figure here; individual episodes did not necessarily cost the average. |
| 7 | An estimated £20 million in regional production spend (Northern Ireland Screen). | Estimated Northern Ireland spend, not the worldwide season budget. |
| 8 | About $15 million per episode, attributed to Orsi’s remarks (Westeros.org, 2018). FilmLA lists a $90 million total for six episodes in its 2018 TV report. | The $90 million is a reported six-episode estimate, not an audited HBO season ledger. |
What the strongest season figures mean
Season 6: $100 million reported for ten hours
The Los Angeles Times reported in 2016 that HBO confirmed a $100 million budget for season 6’s ten hours, giving a working average of $10 million per episode. The article also explained that costs shifted between episodes, so the average should not be read as the cost of every installment. The same report put “Blackwater,” from season 2, at $8 million against an approximately $6 million allocation at the time.
There is a conflicting estimate: a Society of Camera Operators feature describes an approximate rise from $40 million for season 1 to a reported $165 million for season 6. The available reports do not reconcile the different scopes. For a season 6 headline, the contemporaneous $100 million report is the more clearly specified figure; $165 million should not be treated as settled.
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Season 8: about $15 million per episode
Westeros.org attributed the approximately $15 million-per-episode estimate to HBO executive Francesca Orsi’s 2018 remarks. FilmLA’s 2018 television report lists $90 million for the six-episode season at that rate. These are reported estimates, not a public, audited account of HBO’s final costs.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why there is no complete season-by-season price list
“Budget” can mean several different things: a full season’s production budget, an average per episode, the cost of a particularly demanding episode, or spending within one filming region. These measures answer different questions and cannot be combined into a single comparable table of season totals.
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For example, Northern Ireland Screen’s £23.2 million for season 4, £26.3 million for season 5, and estimated £20 million for season 7 describe production spend in Northern Ireland. They are not full-season totals across every location and production cost. Likewise, an episode such as “Blackwater” can cost more than a typical installment without setting the season’s average.
The showrunners described the increase as gradual: “There’s never a blank check policy.” They also said they dropped a planned season 1 battle because “those are three shooting days we can’t afford,” illustrating how budget limits affected production choices (The Hollywood Reporter).
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- Game of Thrones Complete Series Blu-ray
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