Netflix Confirms Huge Series Renewed for Season 2

There are no red lights here, because Squid Game Season 2 has officially been given the go-ahead. Just months after the Hwang Dong-hyuk-created South Korean survival drama launched an international sensation, Netflix has officially greenlit Squid Game Season 2. The renewal news was revealed by the streamer's co-CEO and chief content officer Ted Sarandos during an earnings call on Thursday. Asked about the fate of the hit series, Sarandos revealed, "absolutely," according to Variety, which added that Sarandos teased, "The Squid Game universe has just begun."

At this time, other details about the upcoming second season have not been confirmed. Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk teased in September that the show's sophomore run would possibly focus on Seong Gi-hun, the final winner in the first season played by Lee Jung-jae. Prior to that, Dong-hyuk suggested in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that "we could go with Gi-hun's story as he turns back, and explore more about how he's going to navigate through his reckoning with the people who are designing the games." He also said a possible plot could revolve around "the story of the police officer and the story of his brother, The Front Man. So if I end up creating Season 2, I'd like to explore that storyline – what is going on between those two brothers?"

Initially premiering on Sept. 17 and following a group of people invited to take part in a series of life-or-death children's games with the chance of winning millions of dollars, Squid Game was an instant hit for Netflix. After soaring to the top of the streaming charts and garnering plenty of buzz on social media, where many viewers attempted less violent versions of the games themselves, Squid Game was crowned Netflix's biggest original series of all time. Within the first four weeks of its debut, the series pulled in 1.65 billion hours of streaming, more than two times the number of viewing hours than Netflix's second-biggest show, Bridgerton, which generated 625 million hours viewed.

Amid the show's success, speculation had buzzed that Squid Game would be picked up for a second season, something Hwang first confirmed in November. It turns out that Season 2 might just be the beginning for the show, too. Along with the show's creator teasing in December that he is "in talks with Netflix over Season 2 as well as Season 3," Sarandos shared Tuesday that Squid Game is among the Netflix originals the company "sees as having growth potential outside the core streaming service." Those growth potentials include live experiences, games and merchandise. Squid Game Season 2 does not yet have a premiere date.