Game of Thrones most compelling legends remain shrouded in mystery still to this day, which is largely by George R.R. Martin’s design, intended to keep the world of Westeros feeling unknowable and steeped in centuries of ambiguous or half-remembered history where myth and fact are often impossible to separate. But arguably the most interesting facet of A Song of Ice and Fire’s ancient lore is the legend of Old Valyria and the Doom.

The Doom was a catastrophic event that destroyed the greatest civilization the known world had ever seen and left behind little more than ruins, legends told through song and poetry, and generations of unanswered questions. We caught a brief glimpse of the remains of this ancient civilization in HBO’s Game of Thrones during Season 5, when Tyrion and Jorah sailed through the ruins of Old Valyria and were attacked by Stone Men.

While the books gave readers much more detail about Old Valyria and the possible causes of its destruction, Martin has carefully avoided providing a definitive answer, preserving the Doom as one of the greatest mysteries in the history of his world. But in an upcoming release, fans will be able to delve deeper into this mystery with Game of Thrones: Ancient Ruins, arriving soon for Winter Is Coming.

Ancient Ruins is an upcoming special event for the popular free browser game Winter Is Coming, recently announced during a patch update notice alongside several quality-of-life improvements and content updates. While the event has not been given a specific release date, the update went live on August 27 and Ancient Ruins is stated to “open soon.”

Further, participants will be able to compete for “a mysterious grand prize [that] awaits the lords in the event.” Players can check for the Ancient Ruins event in the Event menu interface on their landing pages in the coming days to see exactly what’s on offer. Cross-server events have long been a major part of Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming, giving players opportunities to compete or cooperate with lords outside their home kingdoms for exclusive rewards and to climb the leaderboards.

Past events include Alliance Conquest, which pits alliances from different servers against one another, and War of the Kingdoms, while the 2026 anniversary also introduced King’s Assembly, a cross-kingdom event built around completing limited-time objectives and contributing points toward shared kingdom milestones.

More recently, developer GTarcade has continued expanding competitive content with modes such as Ruin Rivals, whose War for the Crown season emphasized multi-faction battles and redesigned battlefield objectives. As such, Ancient Ruins is yet another addition to an the game’s substantial rotation of large-scale events, although its exact structure remains unknown beyond its limited-time, cross-server format and promised grand prize.

Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming itself is an officially licensed, free-to-play browser strategy game centered on building and upgrading a Westerosi stronghold, recruiting recognizable commanders from across the franchise, raising armies, joining alliances, and battling other players for territory and resources. It’s well worth checking out if you’re a longtime fan, and is constantly getting updates with new content and events such as Ancient Ruins, keeping the experience fresh.