Although the Netflix thriller series Squid Game came to a conclusion in 2025, it doesn’t mean that things are officially over for the franchise created by Hwang Dong-hyuk. Squid Game: The Challenge, the reality competition series also created by Netflix, is set to premiere Season 2 next month, and we have a sneak preview. Needless to say, things will get messy. At least, emotionally messy. Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2 will stream on Netflix in three parts this November. The second season of the polarizing reality show will return with nine episodes: the first four episodes will stream on November 4, the other four on November 11, and the season finale on November 18. It’s a small change from the first 10-episode season, which saw Mai Whelan taking home the $4.56 million prize. The winner said to Netflix a few years ago:
“It was a relief to go back to normal life and not worry about getting eliminated. I needed that after two and a half weeks of intense go, go, go, and emotional ups and downs. But the person that came into [the competition] is me. I’m still Mai, and she hasn’t changed — except that I came out stronger.”
The cast for Season 2 includes contestants like Jason Oppenheim, Romain Bonnet, Amanza Smith, Brett Oppenheim, Chrishell Stause, Emma Hernan, Bre Tiesi, Alanna Gold, Nicole Young, Chelsea Lazkani, Mary Bonnet, and Sandra Vergara, among others. They’re only a handful of the 456 players that will once again face the creativity of showrunners taking their love for the original Squid Game to new lengths. The first entry of Squid Game: The Challenge was met with controversy after some of the players claimed they didn’t exactly have a great time. Some threatened to sue because of the conditions they had to endure during Season 1’s production, saying they faced extreme weather and others sustained nerve damage. The conditions they described as “inhumane” likely reflect those in the original show, but shooting under these dire circumstances would be a bizarre case of life imitating art per the requirements of TV executives. It hasn’t been confirmed whether any player from Season 1 could return, and though they’re technically eliminated (or “dead,” if we follow the original series’ premise), stranger things have happened in the universe of Squid Game. Like that Cate Blanchett cameo in the original series’ finale, for example.
The Original ‘Squid Game’ May Have Ended, But Its Cultural Impact Is Strong

Netflix won’t stop capitalizing on one of its most popular shows. As we await further news about a possible spin-off to the original Korean series and the confirmation about David Fincher’s American version, Squid Game: The Challenge remains the next way to revisit the twisted games people have to go through in order to become millionaires. Season 2 has not premiered yet, but Season 3 is officially a go, with U.S. and U.K. casting underway at the moment. You can actually apply to participate using this link.

Release Date

November 22, 2023

Network

Netflix