And just like that, “Squid Game” is back
The third and final chapter of the Netflix hit series debuts this summer — a television bounce-back quicker than expected.
In an era of mid-pandemic rotting, teal jumpsuits became fashionably acceptable while DJs invaded TikTok with “Red Light, Green Light” edits. Along with at-home DIY challenges many fans made themselves, Netflix’s “Squid Game” had that effect.
The viral series debuted on September 17, 2021, massively capturing audience attention in a time where the screen held it all. The show’s second season — released on December 26, 2024 — took fans not only back to the past, but on an edge-of-your-seat experience that abruptly ended mid-game.
With just 183 days after the second season’s release, “Squid Game” returns to Netflix’s “Recently Added” category for its final time, premiering this summer on June 27, 2025.
Exploring a deeper capacity for human evils, mixed with the juxtapositional innocence of children’s games, the record-breaking series takes audiences on a merry-go-round of emotions (pun for a game in season two). Episode 7 of season 2 ends aggressively — where the remaining characters, including the pregnant Player 222 (Hwang Jun-ho) enter the game’s final round. Hinting at cryptic shots of a large animatronic boy, a complementing throwback to the series’ first “Red Light, Green Light” game, Season 3 may reveal a more nail-biting conclusion.
According to Anna Kaufman from USA Today, “Seasons 2 and 3 were filmed back-to-back, resulting in a short six-month wait compared to the three-year hiatus between the first two seasons.” While Hwang Dong-hyuk, the show’s creator, planned for a more efficient release date, fans now can now expect their next dose of thrill in an unusually shorter wait time, at least, compared to other Netflix shows like “Stranger Things,” which took 11 years to film five seasons.
As Variety previously reported, the show’s second season racked up “68 million total views in four days, becoming Netflix’s biggest TV debut ever,” reaching a “new viewership milestone.” Since March 2025, the numbers look closer to 190 million views, according to Screen Rant. But even before the second season’s debut, fans of the dystopian hit revisited the first season. According to Variety’s Ethan Shanfeld, over 330 million watched “Squid Game” Season 1, with “more than 4.9 billion hours viewed since its release.” — That’s equivalent to 55,936 decades.
Although most of the first season’s cast was missing in Season 2, Season 3 can predict familiar faces, including Seong Gi-hun or Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae), In-Ho or Player 001 (Lee Byung-hun) as well as the show’s indestructible detective, Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon).
Preparing for its last leg, the show’s final trailer gained mass viewership in Netflix’s “Tudum,” a global event where fans view new trailers, behind-the-scenes content and upcoming announcements for the streaming service. Additional sponsorships, including Nike, and public promotions lead up to the season’s June release.
Although Season 2 was a major success for Netflix, topping as the second most popular non-English series (next to season 1) on the platform, some fans say they were “bored to tears,” in Season 2, according to a recent Mirror US story headline.
Could Dong-hyuk’s release plan change that? Possibly.
Even if fans can’t quite-find the same excitement they did in season 1, the rushed delivery will surely be appreciated. And if not, the “Squid Game” franchise will hold a lasting impact hard to make one hate it forever.
Along with its intergenerational fan base, the show presents room for all ages, identities and backgrounds.The series drastically impacted viewership toward Netflix’s international projects, bringing significant attention to South Korean culture, strengthening large-scale global relationships and opening doors for opportunities beyond the film. Interactive gaming platforms like Roblox feature several “Squid Game”-themed challenges, including Red Light/Green Light, Marbles and Tug of War. Other internet challenges also feature the show’s second game, Dalgona, or the honeycomb cookie game, where thousands of iterations exist just like it.
This also isn’t the first time viewers have seen attempts at including deadly twists on popular childhood games. Projects like “Escape Room,” “Alice in Borderland” and “The 8 Show” turn playful-eque scenarios into life-or-death situations. Yet their traction hardly makes it to the same scale as “Squid Game.”
Other cinematic takes, including parody films like “Vampires Suck” and “The Starving Games” introduce “Octo games,” (2022) to the mix, where eight contestants play deadly games for a chance to win fame. The film currently rates 3.3/10 on IMDb.
As the show’s final moments come to a close, many realize the phenomenon behind it. The show circulated a growing fanbase for almost four years, drastically changing the chemistry of Netflix’s international viewership.
Whether the newest season is a smash hit like its first, or not, “Squid Game” has game(s) — literally.
