Squid Game: The Challenge: when is game show on Netflix, how does it work, when is season 2 of Korean drama?

Squid Game: The Challenge is a competition game show based on the uber popular Netflix South Korean drama series Squid Game, which smashed streaming records when it was released in 2021.

Squid Game was a staple of pandemic viewing - the brutal dystopian series which followed contestants taking part in a series of deadly children’s games with the hopes of surviving to the end and winning a fortune.

The reality series spin-off features similar games to the drama, but without the accompanying agonising death. The Challenge also boasts the biggest cash prize to be awarded in a TV game show.

How does Squid Game: The Challenge work?

Just like the original series, Squid Game: The Challenge will feature 456 contestants who compete in challenges seen in the drama. Games include Red Light, Green Light, Dalgona, and marbles, whilst some challenges have been created especially for the game show.

Whereas losers in the drama series were brutally killed, by a barrage of gunfire, falling from a great height, or being stabbed, the losers in The Challenge are humanely eliminated from the game.

Whilst there were reports during filming that contestants had required medical attention, Netflix confirmed that these were all cases of mild medical conditions. The players who make it through to the final challenge will then face off for a chance to win a massive cash prize.

How much is the prize money in Squid Game: The Challenge?

The prize pot for Squid Game: The Challenge has been billed as the highest cash prize in game show history, a record previously held by The Million Second Quiz since 2013, when contestant Andrew Kravis won $2.6 million. 

The prize for the Netflix series is a staggering $4.56 million (£3.63 million), not quite on the same level as the $38.6 million won in the K-drama, but then as contestants don’t have to risk life and limb in the reality series, it’s a very tempting prize.

When is the release date of Squid Game: The Challenge?

The first five episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge were released on Netflix on Wednesday November 22. Episodes 6-9 will land on the streaming platform on November 29, and the finale will be available from December 6. 

Will there be a season 2 of Squid Game?

When the first season of the drama ended with Gi-hun walking away from the airport and vowing to bring the game to an end, it seemed perfectly set up for a second season.

In June 2022 Netflix confirmed that a second season of the show is in the works, which isn’t surprising given that the first series was at the time of its release Netflix’s most watched show with 1.65 billion hours (188,000 years) streamed in the first four weeks.

We still do not have a release date for Squid Game season two, but it is possible that more updates will be given after the finale of The Challenge is released.