One press release says it all:

Telltale Games and HBO announce Partnership to Create Games based on Game of Thrones. 2012 Studio of the Year and HBO Global Licensing in multi-year, multi-title partnership to Create Games Based on Emmy Award-Winning Television Series.

Though I have never been an adventure game player, I instantly fell in love with Telltale’s The Walking Dead. It was one of the licensed games to nail it on every count. There references to the world I knew were there, but never forced. The story stood on its own as well for those who didn’t know the source material intimately. The characters were emotionally engaging. And I didn’t want it to end.

And now they are going to do that with something I love almost as much as the original Walking Dead comics. Well to that I say, “Bring it on.” In 2014, Telltale will embark down what will no doubt be an emotional journey in the world of Westeros with Game of Thrones. One thing that both Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead have each taught me is that bad things happen to good people, especially when I begin to really like them. In a way now, I almost dread the heartbreak that this game is going to bring upon me.

This summer may have 90% of fantasy audiences salivating at a brand new theatrical blockbuster every weekend, but there is one epic story that we can’t wait to happen, and it’s on HBO. We’re talking, of course, about this April’s upcoming serialized adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Son of Fire and Ice fantasy novels, now simply called Game of Thrones.

The adaptation looks to borrow some visuals from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, while bringing new lift to Martin’s world of magic and Medieval politics. David Benioff, who helped bring the books to the screen, jokingly referred the adaptation to “The Sopranos in Middle-Earth.”

Needless to say, it’s already drawing some pretty big attention.

The series begins on April 17th, only a few weeks away, but HBO has graciously brought us the first 15 minutes of the pilot, in which we get fully inundated in Martin and Benioff’s world of kings and magic. Take a look at the sneak preview after the jump.