Game of Thrones is the perfect show to debut this sort of thing on. Fantasy fans love finding out more information about the fictional worlds that characters live in, and HBO’s interactive elements are good at teasing out minute details that might otherwise be lost in the visual nature of the storytelling. Whether it be to showcase a map of the show’s seven kingdoms, give users a look into the family trees of different ruling houses, or a reliquary with interactive pages for artifacts in the show, the pop-ups that run alongside the videos give existing fans some cool toys to play with, while also providing a bit of context for those who aren’t already familiar with the popular book series the show is based on. HBO Go also provides behind-the-scenes videos and commentary from series creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, as well as book author George R.R. Martin.

Adding a bit of interactivity to Game of Thrones is one more way that HBO is trying to lure viewers onto its HBO Go platform for catchup viewing. HBO Go, which was launched last year, is designed to provide added value to subscribers of the premium cable network, by letting them log in and watch episodes of their favorite shows online and on mobile devices. To promote the over-the-top component of HBO Go, the programmer recently allowed Game of Thrones viewers to tune in to one episode of the show a week early, and has also offered up an exclusive sneak previews of the hit series True Blood to HBO Go users.

HBO Go users can now access every episode of every HBO original series, including shows that are no longer on the air like The Sopranos and Sex and the City. In addition to having access to those episodes on the web, viewers can also tune in on mobile devices with the recent release of mobile apps for the iPad, iPhone and Android devices.

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Following the regularly scheduled airing of the sixth episode of Game of Thrones this Sunday at 9:00 ET, the seventh episode of the series, entitled “You Win or You Die,” will go live on the network’s HBO Go online platform. In addition to the HBO Go website, subscribers can also tune in through the service’s recently released mobile apps.

The HBO Go service was launched last year to give subscribers access to on-demand episodes of its shows. Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said on a recent earnings call that HBO Go is now available to more than 80 percent of its subscribers, but few actually know that they have access to the service. While the company announced that more than a million users have downloaded the iPad app, that’s still a fraction of the 30 million-plus subscribers that pay for the network.

According to HBO SVP of Corporate Affairs Jeff Cusson, the promotion is a part of HBO’s effort to increase the visibility and adoption of its HBO Go TV Everywhere service. “When you have a new platform like HBO Go, you want to present subscribers reasons to go there,” Cusson said in a phone interview.

With HBO Go, subscribers to the network are able to watch every episode of every HBO original series, but this is the first time the platform has made an episode that hasn’t yet aired available online. That said, this type of promotion isn’t unprecedented in terms of HBO pushing adoption of new services. Back when it was first pushing its video-on-demand service, HBO made episodes of ultra-popular cop drama The Wire available on cable VOD services a week prior to their live airing.

That said, HBO is treading carefully with releasing episodes of shows early. Due to the rabid nature of its fans for shows like True Blood or Game of Thrones, it doesn’t want to risk too many spoilers being released on social networks like Twitter before they go live.

The good news is that because HBO is subscriber-based, the network has the flexibility to make episodes available early on new platforms. Since it’s not reliant on viewers tuning in to the live airing of a show for advertising, it can use unaired episodes as a way to promote new services. “That’s beauty of HBO not being ad-supported. We’re happy to let viewers watch wherever they want,” Cusson said.

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