Game of Thrones: War for Westeros is bringing a monster straight out of legend into the game. PlaySide Studios, the developer behind the upcoming real-time strategy title, has confirmed that the White Walkers’ faction includes spiders in their army. The creatures were only ever mentioned in passing in the show, by Old Nan in the first season, but now they are an actual unit on the battlefield.
The revelation comes from game director Ryan McMahon, who spoke with Polygon about the project. He pointed to the background of the White Walker faction, where tiny spiders creep through the ranks alongside the ice zombies. “If you study it closely, which I don’t expect everyone to do, you’ll notice that the White Walker faction has spiders in the background as part of their army,” McMahon said. “That’s something which has only ever been spoken about in tales by Old Nan in season 1, and that’s an actual unit in the game.”
Spiders in the Army
The inclusion of spiders is a small touch, but it lands with extra weight because the creatures were never shown on screen. Old Nan’s brief mention in the first episode of the HBO series made them a whispered horror, a story told around the fires of Winterfell. Now they are part of the playable roster.
The White Walkers are not the only faction drawing on the books. McMahon said PlaySide’s design leans heavily on George R.R. Martin’s novels, even where the TV adaptation diverged. The team has read the books and watched the series multiple times, and they drew on the A Song of Ice & Fire Tabletop Miniatures Game and A Game of Thrones: The Board Game for inspiration.
When there was a difference between the books and the show, McMahon said the studio followed the show’s canon. But for the parts of the story fans hated, the game offers a fix. “It’s a sandbox, player-led campaign where you start with a territory that you are in on a map of Westeros that you have to go out and conquer, as well as some other objectives on the political side of things with high-stakes alliances and betrayals that determine which factions and which hero from that faction sits on the Iron Throne in the end,” he explained.
A Sandbox Campaign
The campaign mode is the heart of the game. Players pick a starting territory on a map of Westeros and set out to conquer the rest. The objective system adds a layer of political intrigue beyond simple military conquest. Alliances and betrayals shape which faction and which hero ends up on the Iron Throne.
Taking territory triggers skirmish matches, which are won by seizing objectives. Each victory feeds resources back into the player’s economy, allowing them to build a bigger army for the next push. The demo involved fights against minor houses, but McMahon said the full game will offer more ways to interact with neutral factions.
Territory matters because of the show’s obsession with borders. Minor lords in the series spent entire episodes arguing over mills and boundaries. McMahon framed the map as a progression pathway that forces players to pace themselves. “Borders play such a big part in Game of Thrones,” he said. “Minor lords are squabbling throughout the show about what mills belong to them, and where does their land start and end? Territory acts as a great progression pathway, so rather than being able to just rush out on the map, build whatever you want, and overwhelm your opponent, you have to pace yourself, get your economy going, get your production going, and then expand out.”
Heroes, Warriors and Support
The hero system is where the game lets players build teams that never existed on screen. Heroes are divided into three categories: warriors, commanders, and support characters. That means a front-line force like The Mountain can stand beside a leader like Tywin Lannister, with a sneaky assassin like Arya Stark rounding out the squad.
The White Walkers bring their own powerful units, including giants and ice spiders. But they have fewer heroes available. The Starks, by contrast, have a relative advantage on the hero front. Both Robb Stark and Jon Snow can recruit their direwolves to fight at their side.
The game does not follow a strict timeline. Players can create team-ups and rivalries that never happened in the series. McMahon described the approach as letting players change the fate of the Seven Kingdoms.
Competitive Matches
PlaySide drew on classic RTS series like StarCraft, Age of Empires, and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth when building the game. But McMahon said the studio wanted competitive matches to feel more like Super Smash Bros. or Marvel Rivals. “They don’t focus on competitive balance purity, they focus a lot more on a fun-first philosophy,” he said.
The result is a roster of powerful units that are designed to be exciting to watch. Dragons are going to be really strong. White Walkers can raise the dead. Wildfire is super explosive and dangerous. Giants and mammoths swing their clubs around and knock everyone everywhere.
That mix of chaos and spectacle is the point. McMahon said the studio wants to prioritize fun over balance. The game’s competitive matches are meant to feel more like a chaotic brawl than a finely tuned tactical contest.
The Scariest Stories
The spider unit ties directly into the lore of the show. Old Nan’s tales of the White Walkers included spiders, and now those stories have been turned into an actual unit in the game. For anyone who is arachnophobic, the inclusion is genuinely frightening.
The White Walkers are not the only faction drawing on the books. McMahon said PlaySide’s design leans heavily on George R.R. Martin’s novels, even where the TV adaptation diverged. The team has read the books and watched the series multiple times, and they drew on the A Song of Ice & Fire Tabletop Miniatures Game and A Game of Thrones: The Board Game for inspiration.
When there was a difference between the books and the show, McMahon said the studio followed the show’s canon. But for the parts of the story fans hated, the game offers a fix. “It’s a sandbox, player-led campaign where you start with a territory that you are in on a map of Westeros that you have to go out and conquer, as well as some other objectives on the political side of things with high-stakes alliances and betrayals that determine which factions and which hero from that faction sits on the Iron Throne in the end,” he explained.
The Fun Philosophy
The game’s approach to balance is unusual for the genre. Most RTS titles spend years tuning units to be equal in competitive play. War for Westeros is doing something different. McMahon said the studio is prioritizing fun over balance.
The comparison to Super Smash Bros. and Marvel Rivals is telling. Those games are not about competitive purity. They are about spectacle and excitement. McMahon said the same philosophy applies to War for Westeros. “We have dragons that are going to be really strong. We have White Walkers that can raise the dead. We have wildfire, which is obviously super explosive and dangerous, and we have giants and mammoths that are swinging their clubs around and knocking everyone everywhere. That’s fun and exciting to watch, and we want to make sure that we put that first.”
| Faction | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| White Walkers | Giants, ice spiders, dead-raising | Few heroes |
| Starks | Direwolves, strong heroes | None stated |
| Lannisters | Wealth, dragons | None stated |
What Comes Next
Game of Thrones: War for Westeros releases in early 2027. McMahon’s quotes paint a picture of a game that respects the source material while giving players freedom to reshape it. The spider unit is a small detail, but it shows attention to the lore.
The game is a chance to rewrite the ending of a show that frustrated many viewers. McMahon described the campaign as a sandbox where players can change the fate of the Seven Kingdoms. That promise is the core appeal of the project.
Source material: “Game of Thrones’ Biggest Villain Is Even More Terrifying in an Upcoming Official Release,” Polygon.
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