Squid Game Season 2 becomes first number one Netflix show in an insane number of countries

It’s been a three-year wait since Squid Game was last on screens, and Season 2 has arrived with a bang, earning the top spot across the globe and breaking records on Netflix.

Having dropped on December 26, Squid Game Season 2 brought back Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun, who returned to the Games a second time in a quest for vengeance, hoping to take down the diabolical competition after his traumatic first run.

So far, Season 2 has been a hit both critically and with fans, who have deemed the follow-up to be a worthy successor to the groundbreaking first season. At the time of writing, it sits at 84% on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to Season 1’s 95%.

The new season has also broken some major records, including one never achieved by any other show on the streaming service.

Squid Game S2 hits #1 spot in 93 countries on Netflix

Since being released on December 26, Squid Game Season 2 has now become the number one show in 93 countries where Netflix is available simultaneously. It’s the first show from the streamer to hit this landmark.

All seven episodes of the second season arrived on the same day, and as of December 29, it’s currently the top TV show in 93 countries, including the US, Canada, and UK [via FlixPatrol].

Netflix

It’s an impressive feat, and one which mimics the unprecedented success of the first season. In 2021, the first season ended up hitting the number one spot in 94 countries, albeit at a slower rate (across one month) than it’s successor, which is less than a week old.

Squid Game Season 3 is already on the way, with a premiere set for sometime in 2025.

“Hope this success means they’ll release season 3 sooner rather than later lol,” said one Reddit user.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, Squid Game out did itself,” another added. “They’ve stepped up their game. Hwang Dong-hyuk is Netflix’s most valuable asset.”

A third wrote, “I feel like having us wait the last 3 years was a good idea with the benefit of hindsight. It gave people time to make references and even replicate the game throughout social media. Squid Game definitely had a lot of influence on mrbeast. All of this gave a season 2 a lot more hype despite any hype that died down due to time.”

For more, check out our 10 major predictions for Squid Game Season 3, every Squid Game challenge ranked by difficulty, and the 15 TV shows coming in 2025 you need to get excited about.