Hit Netflix Show Sets Record With Massive Viewership Number

Player 456’s return to Netflix in the third and final season of the streamer’s hit South Korean drama Squid Game has smashed streaming records.

With more than 60.1 million views within the first three days of its Friday premiere date, Squid Game Season 3 has set a new record for most views for a show within that pivotal three-day time period.

Season 3 overall currently ranks as the ninth most-watched non-English TV show ever. The season also ranks No. 1 in all 93 countries where Netflix has Top 10 lists, including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, making it the first show ever to do so in its premiere week, the streamer said.

Season 3’s success isn’t much of a surprise. The show’s first two seasons combined boast an impressive 600 million views prior to Season 3’s debut. With 265.2 million views, Squid Game Season 1 remains Netflix’s most popular show ever, while Season 2 holds records for the streamer’s third most popular show of all time and most views for a show in its premiere week. All three seasons are also rated fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, where the series overall holds an 85% critics score.

Created, written, and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk, Squid Game took the world by storm when it first premiered on Netflix in 2021. The series centers around a group of 456 people who accept a mysterious invitation to participate in a round of childhood games. Winning could earn them a life-changing 45.6 billion Korean won, but losing could cost them their lives.

Season 3 continued to follow Player 456, or Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), who won the Squid Game in Season 1, as he continued on his mission to put an end to the game once and for all. At the time, the Front Man continued onto his next move.

Along with Lee, Season 3 also starred Lee Byung-hun, Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Wi Ha-jun, Park Gyu-young, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-sim, Jo Yuri, Lee David, and Roh Jae-won.

While Squid Game certainly had the popularity to call for additional seasons, Hwang told The Hollywood Reporter in November of Season 3, “I believed that with that story, I was able to tell everything that I wanted to tell through the story of Squid Game and also in the perspective of Gi-hun as a character, and I thought that we don’t need any further stories from here.”

All three seasons of Squid Game are now streaming on Netflix.