'Squid Game' becomes Netflix's biggest ever series after reaching 111 million fans

By Lucy Buglass
published

'Squid Game' continues to dominate the Netflix charts and is now the streaming service's biggest series.

Squid Game actresses Ji Yeong and Jung Ho-yeon
(Image credit: Netflix)

Squid Game is officially Netflix's biggest ever TV show after reaching 111 million fans around the world. It's even bigger than other popular shows such as Bridgerton (82 million), The Witcher (76 million) and Sex Education (40 million).

The nine-part South Korean series centres around Seong Gi-hun (Jung-jae Lee), a man who is riddled with debt and constantly on the run from loan sharks, as he struggles to provide for his daughter and his mother. So naturally, when this opportunity to win a fortune comes up, he jumps at it. But he soon ends up involved in a series of deadly games.

At the time of its release, Netflix's co-CEO Ted Sarando: "Squid Game will definitely be our biggest non-English language show in the world, for sure, and there’s a very good chance it’s going to be our biggest show ever."

It turns out he was right, with the official Netflix Twitter account revealing that it had indeed become their biggest ever series with a whopping 111 million global fans worldwide. Unsurprisingly, it's still at the top spot of the top 10 list in the UK, US and beyond.

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Now that the series is Netflix's most popular, fans are curious if there'll be a second season on the cards. The finale certainly leaves room to continue the story, but so far nothing has been confirmed.

However, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has told Radio Times: "I do realise there are huge expectations for season two. It’s not that I haven’t thought about season two at all, and I also do have a rough framework for it. But I keep asking myself whether I can make it better than season one. I do not want people to get disappointed over the new season."

He added that he might focus on Oh Il-Nam's (Player 001) backstory, who is a key character in the first Squid Game season. If season 2 were to happen, we could learn a lot more about him.

Squid Game is currently available on Netflix. All nine episodes can be watched on-demand. 

Lucy Buglass
Lucy Buglass
Senior Staff Writer

Lucy joined the WhatToWatch.com team in 2021, where she writes series guides for must-watch programmes, reviews and the latest TV news. Originally from Northumberland, she graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a degree in Film Studies and moved to London to begin a career writing about entertainment.


She is a Rotten Tomatoes approved film critic and has a huge passion for cinema. She especially loves horror, thriller and anything crime-related. Her favourite TV programmes include Inside No 9, American Horror Story, Stranger Things and Black Mirror but she is also partial to a quiz show or a bit of Say Yes to the Dress!