Emmy and Golden Globe-winning drama series, “Game of Thrones,” is HBO’s most-popular, most-watched series to date.

HBO needed to create an engaging experience designed to excite the fan base and accelerate press, while building buzz for the forthcoming season. The experience would need to feature new technology, given the SXSW forum, but also be fast, durable, and effortless to maintain—since it would need to support thousands of daily visitors.

The catalyst for success, however, would be the kick-off party. Throwing a successful, must-attend opening night party for celebrities, musicians and tastemakers would be almost as important as the exhibition itself.

Festivities began on the red carpet of the opening night party, with “Game of Thrones” stars in attendance and musical performances by hip-hop artist COMMON.

“Game of Thrones” came alive for visitors at SXSWesteros. The exhibition included the Iron Throne, actual weapons and props from all seasons, a “Beautiful Death” display (artistic interpretation of the series’ most iconic deaths), HBO GO “Relive the Moment” (allowing fans to declare their favorite moments) and a pop-up shop outside the venue.

The centerpiece of the exhibit was "Ascend the Wall". Visitors entered a wooden elevator, outfitted with an Oculus Rift, (a first-of-its-kind virtual-reality headset) that simulated the experience of riding the winch elevator at Castle Black to the top of the 700-foot ice wall.

Boasting 220,039,301 total impressions, with massive press coverage and rave reviews, "Game of Thrones" was the second-most popular topic in tweets that also mentioned SXSW.

“Game of Thrones” came alive for fans and press as SXSWesteros transported them into the world of the seven kingdoms.

At the opening night party, cast members Gwendoline Christie, Maisie Williams and Kristian Nairn were joined by hip-hop artist COMMON (a contributor to series-themed mixtape, “Catch the Throne”) among other celebrities, including Felicia Day. Hodor—that is, Nairn—even DJ'd a set.

The exhibition’s centerpiece was "Ascend the Wall". Visitors entered a wooden elevator, outfitted with an Oculus Rift (a virtual-reality headset) that simulated riding the winch elevator at Castle Black to the top of the 700-foot ice wall. Along the way, 4D elements create the sensation of wind whipping their hair and a rattling floor.

The exhibition included the Iron Throne and nearly 100 artifacts from all seasons: actual costumes, props, armor and weapons. HBO also showcased a Game of Thrones-themed beer served on-site, where guests could sample.

The exhibition averaged 4,000 visitors per day, totaling 17,000 visitors over the 5-day activation at SXSW. Thousands of fans waited up to 3 hours in line and were kept busy by social media and trivia activations.

Press was blown away, with coverage and rave reviews from Mashable, Wired, Digiday, USA Today, Huffington Post, The Verge, CNN, and many more. The Oculus Rift debut and Grumpy Cat’s appearance on the Iron Throne propelled social buzz even further.

Between broadcast and online, press coverage resulted in a total ad/PR value of $5,877,000 and a total of 220,039,301 impressions.

'Game of Thrones' was the second-most popular topic in tweets that also mentioned SXSW [Source:CNN.com].

Only days after the festival, the Oculus VR brand went global when it was purchased by social media giant Facebook.

The traveling exhibition continues on a global scale, reaching 8 world markets by September, 2014 .