Picture: Netflix
Squid Game will return for its highly anticipated second season on Netflix in December 2024, but we’ve been hearing for several weeks that they filmed seasons 2 and 3 back to back. Recently, Korean media outlet OSEN has also reported the third season renewal. With the announcement of the season 2 release date, Netflix has confirmed that the series has been renewed for a third season, which will be released in 2025.
As mentioned, we were first told about Squid Game season 2 being filmed back-to-back with a third season a few weeks back. We contacted Netflix, which declined to comment, but now the South Korean outlet has reported that the show is returning for a third season. In their reporting, they state that Netflix denied that they were filming both seasons back to back.
Sources tell What’s on Netflix that the third season’s release is being lined up in mid-2025. It’s expected to be 7 or 8 episodes long, keeping the momentum from season 2’s landing in December 2024. In addition, Netflix also renewed its controversial reality series Squid Game: The Challenge for a second season last year, which is currently in production.
Netflix officially confirmed on social media that the third season will be released in 2025. This confirms that seasons 2 and 3 were filmed back to back, despite Netflix attempting to deny it.
As part of the announcement, Hwang Dong-hyuk, the director, writer, and Executive Producer of Squid Game, shared a heartfelt message to fans of his beloved show.
The renewal comes as somewhat of a no-brainer.
Picture: Netflix
The first show exceeded anyone’s expectations and became a cultural phenomenon. That’s thanks in part to TikTok, thanks in part to social media, thanks in part to the pandemic, and definitely in part thanks to the show being a riveting, refreshing watch from start to finish.
This trend of filming popular seasons back-to-back is also building momentum at Netflix. The Witcher is filming its next two seasons (the latter being the final) back-to-back, and we’ve heard of several others getting that treatment, too. The idea behind this is to ensure that there’s not an extra long wait for shows to come back and risk losing viewership season over season. Because otherwise, you’ve got the case for Squid Game where we’ve now been waiting three years for its return.
Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byung-hun, Wi Ha-jun, and Gong Yoo are all confirmed to be returning for the second outing, with new faces including Park Gyu-young, Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Lee Jin-uk, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won, and Won Ji-an.
Filming on the new season of Squid Game has been ongoing for quite some time. According to an interview with one of the cast members, cameras began rolling in early July 2023 and were expected to continue for at least ten months. However, it looks like filming only recently wrapped up in June 2024. Season 2 will consist of six episodes in total.
The show remains Netflix’s most-watched within the first 91 days of all time, with 2.20 billion viewing hours, equating to 265.20 million views. The most recent Netflix Engagement Reports suggest the show scored another 204.30 million viewing hours throughout 2023, which equates to 24.60 million views.
Are you excited about a third season of Squid Game coming down the tracks already? Let us know in the comments down below.