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Squid Game fever continues to rise across the world, with the record-breaking Netflix K-drama series about a deadly survival competition topping the streamer's global rankings for nearly a month since it premiered on September 17.
Netflix told Newsweek on Wednesday the enthralling series has been viewed by 111 million subscribers to date, making it the streamer's "biggest-ever series at launch," as well as the first Netflix series to reach over 100 million subscribers when it premiered.
In the U.S., Squid Game is the first Korean series on Netflix to bag the number one spot. The show has held the country's top ranking for a consecutive "21 days and counting," setting a new record for any non-English language series, the platform said.
The streamer added that the show currently ranks number one in 94 countries—every country in the world where Netflix has a "Top 10" list—from Brazil and India, to France and Turkey.
The series has also taken the social media world by storm, with the hashtag #squidgame amassing an impressive 37.2 billion views on TikTok alone.
When Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram were down earlier this month, the internet turned to Squid Game for its memes.
Indeed, Squid Game mania has swept across the globe, with various venues themed around the series popping up, including in South Korea where a "Squid Game World" venue was unveiled at a metro station in the trendy Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul ahead of the show's premiere.
Elsewhere, a Squid Game-themed cafe was opened in Paris, while a replica of the creepy doll featured in the Red Light, Green Light game in the series was installed at a shopping mall in the Philippines. Piñatas looking like the giant doll have also been spotted in Mexico.
Last week, Variety reported that sales of the white slip-on Vans sneakers worn by the players in the series have skyrocketed 7,800 per cent, according to data compiled by Sole Supplier.
With Halloween just around the corner, various Squid Game-inspired costumes have been cropping up on retail websites, such as the iconic green tracksuits worn by the players, which are reminiscent of the green gym uniform that Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk recalled wearing in elementary school.
In a statement on Wednesday, Minyoung Kim, Netflix's VP of Content, APAC ex-India (Asia-Pacific region), said the success of Squid Game has "broken through beyond our wildest dreams" since the streamer first began investing in Korean films and series in 2015.
Kim explained: "It's hard to believe the most popular show in the world almost didn't get made," noting when the idea for Squid Game was conceived more than a decade ago, Hwang was turned down by studios and investors who saw it as "unrealistic and dystopian."
But Kim said Netflix saw "an underdog story with relatable socioeconomic debates and questions of morality that would speak to our members in South Korea and across the globe."
While a second season of the series has yet to be officially confirmed, the series' open-ended final episode has heavily pointed towards a subsequent season.
In an interview with CNN last week, Hwang said he is "really contemplating" the making of a second season, following the unprecedented success of the show, revealing there were "some corners left open" in Season 1 that he'd want to explore.
The avenues he'd want to explore include "the Front Man's [played by Lee Byung-hun] unexplained past and Jun-ho's [the policeman, played by Wi Ha-jun] story" and the story of the Salesman, played by Gong Yoo (the actor from Train to Busan and various other Korean films and dramas), who recruits the contestants via a game of ddakji.
Squid Game Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix now.
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more