68 million views

Second “Squid Game” season gets off to a flying start

Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who won the "Squid Game" in the first season as player 456, wants to find the people behind the nasty competition.

(Bild: © 2024 Netflix, Inc.)

The drama about seemingly harmless but ultimately deadly children's games is the most successful Netflix series ever. The second season of the Korean production "Squid Game" has now got off to a strong start. It was viewed around 68 million times worldwide within four days.

This is according to the latest Netflix weekly charts (23 to 29 December), which were published on Tuesday evening. The seven new episodes (between 50 and 75 minutes long) went online on December 26. The number of views on the Netflix streaming service is not quite the same as the number of viewers for traditional television. It is a mathematical figure that, according to Netflix, is calculated by dividing the hours watched by the duration of the respective production.

Korean series was a surprise success in fall 2021
A total of 265 million views were recorded for the nine episodes of season one in the first 90 days or so of fall 2021 - more than for any other Netflix series to date. After the second "Squid Game" season, there will be a third - and final - season in 2025.

Season two of "Squid Game" does not provide a satisfying conclusion; instead, fans are left with a cliffhanger, i.e. an open ending. The first season of "Squid Game" was also praised three years ago for its criticism of society and capitalism - growing inequality, discrimination against social minorities and extreme pressure to perform are all themes, coupled with a great deal of violence.

"Squid Game" actually has everything that works well globally.

(Bild: © 2024 Netflix, Inc.)

Series creator: "Squid Game" has global identification potential
Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk (53) recently told the German Press Agency how he explains the global success. "Every series has its own local and cultural code. But although 'Squid Game' is a non-English-language series, it is a story that people can identify with - regardless of language, culture, religion or ethnicity." The visuals also obviously appeal to people across borders.

"Squid Game" actually has everything that works well globally: Cult sequences that can be shared on TikTok, for example, squeaky-colorful and computer game-like locations, masks and suits that can be marketed well during cultural customs such as Carnival and Halloween.

The gruesome and (mostly) anonymous "soldiers" with their masks and pink overalls, who monitor the games and mercilessly shoot the eliminated players in their green tracksuits, are particularly recognizable.

Main character wants to blow up the nasty game from the inside
And that's what it's all about: 456 people, often with very high debts, are abducted to an island every year by a mysterious organization. There they have to take part in several Korean children's games, only one of which is not fatal. Whoever passes them all wins the jackpot of 45.6 billion won (currently around 30 million euros).

Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who won the first season's "Squid Game" as player 456, wants to find the people behind the nasty competition and put an end to their malicious activities. But the path to dismantling the organization proves difficult. That's why 456 gets back on board to smash the "octopus game" from the inside: "Guys, I've seen this damn game before! We're all going to get killed!"