Squid Game Season 3 will not be the end, as Netflix plans to continue franchise releases in at least three ways.
The Korean-language series has become one of Netflix's biggest hits of all time, telling the thrilling dystopian story of a group of players all desperate to compete in a series of deadly children's games for a massive cash prize.
Season 3 of Squid Game is set to be released later in 2025, and it will be the end of the flagship series. However, Netflix is already looking for options to continue the series beyond the flagship show.
All the Ways Squid Game Is Continuing Beyond Season 3
Squid Game America
News broke in late 2024 that a new Squid Game series was in the works, with Mindhunter director David Fincher on board and Utopia's Dennis Kelly attached to write.
Netflix never confirmed that an American version of Squid Game is happening (in fact, it has denied such rumors), but the talk around town persisted that this is Fincher's next project.
Without official confirmation of the series, it is unclear whether this Squid Game will be an American remake of the Korean original or if it will be an English-language spin-off set in America following a different story and characters.
Regardless, the prospect of Fincher taking on a dystopian thriller like Squid Game is exciting, and it will hopefully pan out to be the next success story in the franchise.
Squid Game: The Challenge Season 2
In a very meta exercise, Netflix commissioned a reality series in 2022 based on Squid Game, bringing the series' competitive challenges to life—minus all the deadly consequences, of course.
In 2023, Season 1 of Squid Game: The Challenge was released on the streaming service. It pitted 456 competitors in the UK against each other in toned-down versions of the games from the show (such as Red Light Green Light) plus a handful of original challenges.
The show received poor reviews from critics, scoring only 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, but fared better on Netflix, where it debuted in the Top 10 globally.
In 2024, Netflix confirmed (via Tudum) Season 2 of Squid Game: The Challenge was in the works, with studios The Garden and Studio Lambert returning to produce.
Netflix's Nonfiction Series VP Brandon Riegg said that Squid Game: The Challenge is the "most ambitious unscripted show" Netflix has made:
"There was no red light in our decision to green light Season 2 of 'Squid Game: The Challenge,' the most ambitious unscripted show we’ve premiered at Netflix. We’re so excited to continue the franchise of Squid Game with our team in Korea and producers at Studio Lambert and The Garden for this epic competition series."
A premiere date for the second season has not been set, but casting has been completed.
New Squid Game Spin-offs
Squid Game Season 3 will bring to a conclusion the story of Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae). Despite winning the games once, Gi-hun returned to take down the system in Season 2. However, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has said that Gi-hun's story is not the only one he has in mind.
The creator shared multiple ideas with The Hollywood Reporter, saying he was more focused on spin-offs than sequels:
"And so if the time comes, and it just so happens that I’m able to come up with a character or a different story, then maybe there might be a comeback. But I’m thinking more along the lines of a spinoff."
Some of the ideas Hwang offered for potential future stories included filling in "what happened between Seasons 1 and 2:"
"One of the ideas I’m tossing around is what happened between Seasons 1 and 2. There’s a three-year gap. So, for example, what was the Front Man doing during those three years? What was the Recruiter doing?"
Hwang also said he had ideas that would explain aspects of the Squid Game world, such as the stories behind the masked guards:
"If I ever wanted to go back to the world of 'Squid Game,' it would be about different characters with a different story arc. For example, the masked guards. How did they end up here? What do they do in their downtime? Something like that, maybe."
None of these spin-offs have been developed into shows for Netflix as yet, but if Season 3 of the show is as successful as the previous two, the streamer will no doubt want to continue filling out the Squid Game world.
Squid Game Season 3 will be released on Netflix on June 27, 2025.
