When Squid Game first premiered, it was a surprise hit—no one expected this South Korean series to become Netflix’s most-watched show in history. Hwang Dong-hyuk’s masterpiece still holds that title, and the second season seems poised to follow in its footsteps. The new season debuted with record-breaking viewership between December 26 and 29. Below, you’ll find not only the stats but also the first official poster for the third and final season, featuring two familiar dolls from the end-credits scene of the current season finale: Young-hee and Chul-su. They’ll likely play a deadly role in the upcoming games.
In its debut week (December 23–29), Squid Game Season 2 racked up 68 million views, earning the top spot in Netflix’s Top 10 list. Viewers spent a total of 487.6 million hours watching the new episodes, which premiered on December 26. Hwang’s creation easily outperformed the leading English-language show, Wednesday, which had set the previous record in 2022 with 50.1 million views. Additionally, the NFL game between the Ravens and Texans, which topped the non-series list that week, had just 14.4 million views by comparison.
Netflix confirmed that Squid Game Season 2 delivered the strongest series debut in its history, surpassing Wednesday’s premiere. Moreover, the new season is already the seventh most-watched non-English series on the platform.
Season 2 also ranked #1 in 92 countries during its debut week, from December 23 to 29. Unsurprisingly, this success extended to the related mobile game, Squid Game: Unleashed, which topped action game charts in 57 countries on the App Store. Naturally, many viewers revisited the first season in recent weeks, propelling it to a global third-place ranking for the same week and a fifth-place finish in several local markets.
Meanwhile, in the film category, Carry-On continued its winning streak, holding the #1 spot for a third week with 34.9 million views. The holiday-themed action thriller remains a hit in Hungary as well, alongside another surprise success, the miniseries La Palma. It seems Carry-On is on track to climb into Netflix’s all-time top films list soon.
As for Squid Game Season 3, the wait won’t be too long. Hwang has confirmed that the deadly game will return this year, likely in the summer or fall. While this will be the final season, Netflix is building a broader franchise around the series. The writer-director has also hinted at one of the painful twists awaiting fans in this last installment.
