Over the hundreds of TV shows are released each year. Some enter popularity for a short time, some don’t have a following at all, and others are just deemed as mediocre. However, no show has ever gotten so popular so fast for an unknown reason other than the new Netflix show Squid Game. Squid Game is a Korean thriller show that was released on Netflix on September 17th. Since then, it has increased in popularity exponentially and has been #1 trending on Netflix in the US for the last three weeks. 

What is Squid Game?

Squid game is a Korean thriller about 456 people who are in desperate need of money and are in debt. They agree to compete in challenges where they earn a large amount of money if they win all of them. However, they are also playing for their lives. If they lose a challenge, which is typically a childhood game, they are killed. The show is extremely violent and gory which makes it the kind of show some viewers may not like. Squid Game can also only be viewed in Korean with subtitles or with English dubbed over the Korean, which is often uncommon for popular shows in the US. However, 62 million people have watched the show and the Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos says ¨it’s a very good chance it’s going to be our biggest show ever.”

Why is it so popular?

Well, there are a wide variety of reasons for Squid Game´s popularity. One of them is Netflix´s availability and dubbing abilities. The show can be watched in over 100 countries. The show also has subtitles available in 37 languages and dubs for 34 languages. This availability is part of what makes the show so popular globally and it’s why it’s number one on trending on Netflix in over 90 countries. 

However, this doesn’t fully explain the show’s popularity. One of the main reasons the show has gotten so popular is because of social media attention on it. It has been praised by many celebrities, including Jeff Bezos. It also has become a meme sensation and has dominated social media platforms. #SquidGame has over 25 Billion views on TikTok. Memes have become an important part of modern culture and they can raise something to popularity as we´ve seen many times before. Memes, specifically ones based on the Red-Light Green-Light game at the beginning of the show, seem to be part of what´s rising Squid game to popularity. 

Squid Game has also become popular among the cosplay community. Many Squid Game costumes have become popular which gears more people to go watch the show. This Halloween, we can also expect to see thousands of Squid Game costumes. Squid Game costumes are beginning to enter high demand and are getting more difficult to get. The Squid Game staff costumes are a popular costume choice this year because they are relatively simple and very recognizable. 

Fun Facts about Squid Game

We´ll leave you off with some Squid Game facts: 

-Squid game writer and creator, Hwong Dong-hyuk, first wrote the show in 2008 after the financial crisis. He proposed it to many South Korean production companies but it was declined because they considered it ¨too dark¨ before being picked up by Netflix 10 years later in 2019. 

-The amount of money that is split between each of the Squid game contestants is 45,600,000,000 won, the equivalent of $38,460,271.20 USD. 

-The show was originally meant to be a movie but was changed into a show to continue the games more and to add more characters. 

-The staff masks in the show were inspired by fencing and traditional Korean masks.