South Korean Netflix drama 'Squid Game' renewed for second season

Squid Game is set to become Netflix's most popular series. Photo / Netflix

"Squid Game" has been renewed for a second season.

The South Korean dystopian drama - which became streaming platform Netflix's most popular series on launch after reaching 214 million households in 2021 - has been greenlit for another instalment following its huge global success.

Ted Sarandos, Netflix's co-CEO and chief content officer told Variety: "The 'Squid Game' universe has just begun."

The series - which stars Lee Jung-jae, Gong Yoo, Park Hae-soo, HoYeon Jung and O Yeong-su - explored a secret competition with 465 contestants in terrible financial situations battling it out to the death for a huge jackpot.

Squid Game is set to become Netflix's most popular series. Photo / Netflix

Sarandos labelled the show - along with "Bridgerton" and "Stranger Things" - as something that could be extended outside the platform while teasing immersive experiences, games and merchandise.

He also praised the show's production for capturing what Western audiences loved about Korean cinema, such Bong Joon-ho's "Parasite", the 2020 Academy Awards' Best Picture winner.

Sarandos said: "They didn't try to make the show different so that it would travel, but tried to find all the things about Korean cinema and Korean drama and build them up in a way and new levels of production values. It's not like we had to go in and teach anyone in Korea how to make great content. It's an incredible market for that. There's always been curiosity around the world, [the] K Drama market has always had pockets of success all over the place, but the ease of delivery that we've offered has pushed that into the mainstream."

This confirmation of a follow-up comes after showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk - who took 10 years to bring the original season to life - teasing that he was planning for one.

In November, he said: "There's been so much pressure, so much demand and so much love for a second season. So I almost feel like you leave us no choice! But I will say there will indeed be a second season. It's in my head right now. I'm in the planning process currently."

This marked a development from remarks he made where he announced he would do another season if he had access to writers and directors as doing it solo was too taxing.

He said: "I don't have well-developed plans for 'Squid Game 2;. It is quite tiring just thinking about it. But if I were to do it, I would certainly not do it alone. I'd consider using a writers' room and would want multiple experienced directors."