A fictional drama from South Korea, Squid Game has become Netflix’s “biggest-ever series at launch. The dystopian series has been viewed by 111 million accounts since debuting on Netflix on September 17.
Squid Game’s popularity spread around the world by word of mouth, and especially via social media, making the hit series top Netflix charts in more than 80 countries.
Before now, Netflix’s previous hit series Bridgerton had reached 82 million households on its debut.
Squid Game is a survival thriller set in modern-day Seoul, where destitute people are lured and pitted against each other to play simple children’s games to win millions or die trying.
While the genre of the show isn’t new, its striking visuals, relatable characters and disturbing study of human nature have spoken to audiences all around the world.
The hyper-violent dystopian thriller is a nine-part series that has been compared to being a cross between Hunger Games, Black Mirror, and Parasite.
The success of Squid Game has only added to South Korea’s increasing influence on global popular culture, following the likes of K-pop band BTS, and the Oscar-winning movie Parasite.
Squid Game is the first Korean series to hit the number one chart in the United States and also the latest success for Netflix’s bid to produce more international and non-English language content.
Netflix offers Squid Game in both dubbed and subtitled versions in multiple languages, expanding its potential audience.
In February, Netflix announced plans to spend $500 million this year alone on series and films produced in South Korea.