After only 4 days of release (from December 26, 2024), “Squid Game 2” rose to the top of Netflix’s most-watched non-English TV shows worldwide, with 68 million views and a total of 487.6 million viewing hours. The film ranked No. 1 on Netflix in all 93 countries on the day.
“Squid Game 2” broke the viewing record of the first part aired in 2021, which recorded 448.73 million hours of viewing in its first week. At the same time, “Squid Game 2” surpassed the 2022 film “Wednesday” (reaching 50.1 million views in the week), becoming the film with the highest first week views on Netflix globally.
According to Allkpop, the impact of “Squid Game 2” has also boosted Netflix’s success in Korea. Netflix has now reached a record number of app users, with 9.75 million people in Korea currently using Netflix.
A week before “Squid Game 2” was released, Netflix had 7.88 million users in Korea. This means the platform has gained nearly 2 million new users.
Despite the controversy in Korea, international audiences and critics have had mixed reactions to “Squid Game 2.”
While Hollywood Reporter, The Guardian, and TIME said that "Squid Game 2" is not as good as part 1, Variety and Screen Rant gave this film good reviews.
“Squid Game 2” follows the main character Gi Hun (Lee Jung Jae) - the winner of part 1 - who refuses to move to America to return to participate in the game again, in order to find the manipulator behind this deadly game and avenge the dead.
Season 3 of the series is highly anticipated, with an expected airing date in mid-2025. Recently, rumors of BTS's male idol V appearing in "Squid Game 3" have been making the rounds.
