‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Reality Series — Release Date on Netflix

Let the Squid Game begin — for real this time.

Netflix will unveil the reality series Squid Game: The Challenge this November, the streamer announced during their upfront presentation on Wednesday. Squid Game: The Challenge is a reality competition based on the hit Korean survival drama that set viewership records with its September 2021 release and earned 14 Emmy nominations. (The original Squid Game earned a Season 2 renewal last June.)

Squid Game: The Challenge will recruit 456 players who will compete for $4.56 million by playing games inspired by the original series as well as some new ones, with the goal of avoiding elimination. Thankfully, though, the losers won’t be killed, as they were in the original Squid Game. “The stakes are high, but in this game, the worst fate is going home empty-handed,” the official release assures us.

When the reality spinoff was first announced, some criticized the concept for trivializing a deadly serious and violent drama that exposed the ugly underbelly of capitalism. But Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk defended the series to reporters in the Emmys press room, saying: “I think that even though our show does carry quite a heavy message… I feel like when you take things too seriously, that’s really not the best way to go for the entertainment industry… I hope that this is going to be a great new direction for the industry overall.”

Will you be watching Squid Game: The Challenge? Drop your thoughts in a comment below.