Fans of Heated Rivalry have gotten an early holiday present as the hit series has been confirmed for Season 2. Based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changer series of books, Heated Rivalry follows two professional hockey players, Canadian Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), who are rivals on the ice but secretly in a passionate romance that, if it came to light, could threaten both their careers. The series is developed and produced by Canadian streaming service Crave and also airs in the United States and Australia on HBO Max. Heated Rivalry has officially been confirmed for Season 2, per Entertainment Weekly. The second installment looks to adapt The Long Game, the sixth entry in the Game Changer series, released in 2022. HBO will continue to distribute in the United States and Australia, while in talks with Crave to release Season 2 in more regions. The network also filmed an official Season 2 announcement video with Hudsom Williams and Connor Storrie. Williams said Season 2 will be “Hotter, wetter, longer,” while Storrie told fans if they want to know what will happen: “Start reading The Long Game if you want to spoil it for yourself.” See the video below.
‘Heated Rivalry’ Has Become One of the Most Talked About Shows of 2025

Heated Rivalry debuted on Crave and HBO Max with a two-episode premiere starting Nov. 28, 2025. It quickly became an overnight sensation on social media. Heated Rivalry has also been a critical hit, sitting at a 95% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 71 out of 100 on Metacritic. Series creator Jacob Tierney told Entertainment Weekly regarding the positive response to Season 1, saying:
“I don’t know what I expected, but it was not this. It’s so great. I’m very grateful and I’m very thrilled. In terms of engagement, if I’m being honest, I try not to engage that much and kind of let this happen. Hopefully the more interesting conversations about the show will happen once it’s all aired and you can see what it was doing from the beginning.”
Justin Stockman, VP of Content and Programming at Crave’s parent company Bell Media, spoke about Heated Rivalry’s Season 2 announcement in a statement:
“Heated Rivalry represents the very best of what Canadian creators can deliver: Rich characters, compelling drama, and a world audiences want to live in. The response has been extraordinary, and seeing the series now travelling internationally is an incredible milestone.”
The news of Heated Rivalry Season 2 renewal comes on the same day the series’ fourth episode, “Rose,” premiered. Heated Rivalry Season 1 will conclude its six-episode run on December 26, 2025. No word on when Heated Rivalry Season 2 will air, but fans are hopefully not going to have to wait more than a year to see where Shane and Ilya’s relationship goes next.

Release Date

November 28, 2025

Network

Crave

Directors

Jacob Tierney

Cast

Connor Storrie

Ilya Rozanov

Hudson Williams

Shane Hollander

François Arnaud

Scott Hunter

Robbie Graham-Kuntz

Kip Grady