‘Outlander’ Fans Get Bad News for Season 8

Outlander fans just got some bad news.

According to Collider, the eighth and final season of the Starz hit won’t be dropping on Netflix until at least two years after it airs.

Outlander was renewed for Season 8 in January 2023, and it was also announced that the show would be ending after that season. A premiere date for the historical drama’s final outing has not been revealed, but it will be bowing out in 2026. Due to Netflix’s deal with Sony Pictures Television, this means that fans won’t be able to stream the final season until 2028, as the deal states that Sony can license to Netflix in the U.S. only after an exclusivity period of two years post-finale with Starz.

This is on par with previous seasons. The first part of Season 7, which aired in 2023, just landed on Netflix. Meanwhile, the second part of the 16-episode season ended this past January, meaning that fans have another year and a half until it arrives on the streamer. That being said, 2028 is a long time from now, and it’s always possible that the deal between Netflix and Sony could change or Sony could make a deal with another streamer before then. For now, though, fans may want to watch the final season live on Starz next year; otherwise, you’re going to be waiting quite a while for it to stream.

Based on the book series of the same name by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander premiered in 2014 and centers on Caitríona Balfe’s Claire Randall, an English former World War II military nurse in Scotland in 1945, who is transported back in time to 1973. There, she encounters, marries, and falls in love with Sam Heughan’s Jamie Fraser, a Highland warrior who is the tacksman of Clan Fraser of Lovat. Claire is also caught up in the Jacobite rising.

The series was developed by Ronald D. Moore. Along with Balfe and Heughan, the series currently stars Richard Rankin, Sophie Skelton, David Berry, John Bell, Caitlin O’Ryan, and Charles Vandervaart. Even though the wait for Season 8 on Netflix will be excruciating, at least fans will be able to look forward to the final season of Outlander sometime in 2026, and the wait will be worth it. There is also prequel, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, which just premiered and has already been renewed for Season 2.