Squid Game pulled off an enormous feat. Again.
Netflix’s biggest non-English language show (the first season still retains the top spot on that list) has a good start at snagging another all-timer spot with “265.2 million views,” at least according to Netflix’s publicly released data, since the second season’s Dec. 26 release.
Those numbers are particularly impressive given the wait time between seasons with Squid Game first debuting in September 2021 and the second season arriving in December 2024. That’s a three-year gap, albeit broken up by the franchise’s reality-show stint, Squid Game: The Challenge, which streamed in 2023. Also, Netflix revealed that a third (and final) season was in the works from creator/director Hwang Dong-hyuk and star Lee Jung-jae.
When? Netflix has only specified that the third installment is “due out in 2025,” and it reinforced that news with a New Year’s Day teaser “introducing” a new animatronic doll, Chul-su (or Cheol-Su), that appeared in the second season credits. Is there a precise release date, though?
Not officially. Yet there is speculation surrounding word from a Forbes report, which claimed that Netflix Korea’s social media accidentally revealed a June 2025 release date in a briefly surfaced video reel. That seems awfully (and too) fast, even though the second and third seasons were simultaneously filmed last year. As of now, however, Netflix Korea is running with a reel that only promises a 2025 return. In other words, the wait for a release date is on, although we might not have to wait long to find out.
In a late December interview with Variety, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk hinted at a date coming soon. He also offered a few third season story points:
“I believe we will be announcing the launch date for Season 3 soon. I probably expect that to launch around summer or fall next year. But as for the storyline of the third season, Gi-hun having lost everything, including his best friend, and all of his attempts going to failure, it’s now, what is he going to be like? What state is Gi-hun going to be in? And what will he choose to do? Will he continue on with the mission? Is he going to give up or persist? And so you’re going to meet our character Gi-hun at a very critical crossroads as we begin the third season. Gi-hun will not be the man he was in Season 2.”
The first two Squid Game seasons and Squid Game: The Challenge are currently streaming on Netflix.