Squid Game (Korean: 오징어 게임; RR: Ojing-eo Geim) is a South Korean survival drama television series streaming on Netflix. Written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk,
it stars Lee Jung-jae, Park Hae-soo, Wi Ha-joon, Jung Ho-yeon, O Yeong-su, Heo Sung-tae, Anupam Tripathi, and Kim Joo-ryoung.[2] The series, distributed by Netflix,
was released worldwide on September 17, 2021.[3][4]
The series centers on a contest where 456 players, drawn from different walks of life but each deeply in debt, play a set of children’s games with deadly
penalties for losing for the chance to win a ₩45.6 billion prize.[a] Hwang had conceived of the idea based on his own economic struggles early in life as well
as the class disparity within South Korea. Though initially scripted in 2008, Hwang had been unable to find a production to support the script until Netflix around 2019 found
interest as part of their drive to expand their foreign programming offerings. Hwang wrote and directed all nine episodes himself.
Squid Game received critical acclaim and attracted international attention. Within a week of its release, it became one of Netflix’s most-watched
programs in several regional markets, and within its first 28 days of availability, drew more than 111 million viewers, surpassing Bridgerton as the network’s
most-watched show.
