A Jon Snow spinoff show is in development, showing that the backlash to Game of Thrones' ending, and really the final three episodes of season 8 in particular, drew a lot of ire and controversy for its handling of character arcs and critiques over just how fast everything was happening.
The Game of Thrones season 8 backlash dominated discussion of the show both during and after its final run, ranging from online vitriol, aimed especially at showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, to petitions to have it remade. Still, HBO has largely been undeterred in continuing to explore Westeros, ordering the Targaryen-centric prequel House of the Dragon to series, making a pilot of a show based around the Long Night (though that's since been canceled), and discussing ideas that dive deeper into the vast history created by George R.R. Martin.
Still, for all the spinoffs that may happen, it seemed Game of Thrones itself would be untouched, but that changes with reports of a Jon Snow sequel being in the works. It shows HBO is looking to build upon Game of Thrones' ending and that, despite all the criticism it received, it believes there is an audience for it. After all, HBO has been relatively careful about its approach to Game of Thrones spinoffs so far, or at least shown greater restraint than might've been expected given just how big an IP it is and how much there is to potentially mine from it. Rather than people not wanting anything else to do with Game of Thrones, HBO is doubling down on it with the Jon Snow sequel, meaning the backlash had little tangible or lasting impact.
HBO may be counting on winning back those let down by Game of Thrones season 8, which is a task House of the Dragon will be first looking to accomplish, and yet it could already be argued that it either already has or doesn't need to. Game of Thrones was one of the most watched TV shows in history, and though the backlash was large, there's still a sizeable audience intact given just how many millions around the globe tuned in. This checks out with Game of Thrones' continued success on HBO Max, where it's among the most watched shows on the platform, and its sustained presence among the most pirates TV shows in the world. Put short, though Game of Thrones season 8 may have had big problems and the online opinion appears to be that it's hated and no one wants more, that isn't reflected by a real drop in interest.
The Jon Snow sequel show should have a greater advantage in this regard, since it'll have the benefit of even more time since Game of Thrones' ending for the wounds to have healed, be that via rewatches, the presumed success of House of the Dragon (though that itself remains to be seen, of course), or simply being willing to give it a chance out of sheer curiosity because of what it is. Whether the Jon Snow spinoff is the only direct sequel Game of Thrones gets is unclear, but the fact HBO is going so directly back to the source, rather than its previous approach of prequels, shows that it's not concerned about the backlash at all, and that, for all there'll be some who don't want it, there'll be many more who do.