Squid Game: The Challenge Breaks Incredible Streaming Record

Deadline reports that Netflix’s reality spin-off of its viewership-smashing South Korean survival drama was an immediate hit overseas where Squid Game: The Challenge drew in the attention of almost 2 million viewers over a five-day span.

Getting their hands on the action and drama in any way possible, it was also noted that the reality show was the most-streamed title in the U.K. across video-on-demand platforms aside from Apple TV+ and Amazon Prime Video. 

Just as Netflix has done in the past for other reality titles including Love Is Blind, the streamer will be dropping Squid Game: The Challenge in clusters rather than all at once or once a week.

The rest of the first few episodes that went with the first bundle also brought in a solid amount of viewers – more than 1 million per episode.

The next four installments of Squid Game: The Challenge release on November 29, with audiences discovering who will take home the life-changing cash prize of $4.56 million during the finale, which is set for December 6. 

Like its reality off-shoot, the original Squid Game series also caused a wave of obsession for Netflix subscribers when it first premiered in 2021. Through word-of-mouth, the show spread like wildfire, with so many folks tuning in for the brutal drama that it quickly became the streamer’s most-watched series ever.

With numbers going up and up, the cast found themselves overnight celebrities. Squid Game: The Challenge could be something of the same, this time real-life, story.

The first season of Squid Game follows Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a divorced father who has a gambling addiction that he can’t seem to shake. When he’s given the mysterious opportunity to pay off his ever-mounting debt, he quickly jumps on it.

What he doesn’t realize is that he’s signed himself up for a deadly game where, if you lose an event, you also lose your life. But, with such a big payoff, how could he say no?

Along with stellar performances from its main cast, the writing team behind Squid Game helped to drive it to the celebrated place that it now sits.

Not only was each episode packed with the brutality of greed, but there were ample twists and turns to keep audiences on their feet and psychologically engaged.

The first season’s finale was especially a doozy and, with so many knots left untied, we’re happy that a second season is on the way.

As for the reality show, Squid Game: The Challenge was announced last year with hopeful contestants turning out in droves for their chance to win the bonkers cash prize.

During its production time, the show found itself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons time and time again.

From complaints about the conditions the players were put in, rumors of sustained injuries, and allegations of cheating, it felt like there was a good chance the show would never make it to streaming.

And now, as audiences can get caught up on the first few episodes before diving into the next batch, it would seem as though, despite its divisiveness, Squid Game: The Challenge is becoming another huge success for Netflix.