Squid Game: The Challenge

***Squid Game: The Challenge*** is a ten-episode British reality competition television series based on *Squid Game,* the South Korean drama. The show features 456 players competing for US$4.56 million, the largest single cash prize in reality television history.

The Netflix original was produced as a collaboration between independent television production companies Studio Lambert and the Garden, with Studio Lambert leading physical production in the UK. The first episodes of the show were released internationally on November 22, 2023, receiving mixed receptions from critics and audiences.

The show was No. 1 on Netflix’s list of Top 10 English-language show for the first two weeks after its release. It had 20.5 million views in its first week and 11.4 million in its second, with a total of over 170 million hours watched within that fortnight.

On December 6, 2023, prior to the release of the season one finale, Netflix announced a second season order for the reality competition.

## Premise

456 players compete to win US$4.56 million (about £3.6 million), the largest cast and second largest cash prize in reality competition history. Through a series of games, each player is pushed to their limits and forced to ask themselves how far they will go to win.

## Production

In June 2022, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order.

### Casting

Applications for the series opened in June 2022 with an announcement video released on YouTube. Netflix sought contestants from around the world but mandated that they must be English-speaking. The streaming service put out a final casting call in September 2022. Approximately 81,000 applied to be contestants.

With 456 real players, the series claims to have the largest cast in reality TV history. A plurality of the players were either men, in their 20s, or from the United States.

### Filming

Filming began in January 2023 across two studios in the UK, Cardington Studios in Bedford and on six giant sound stages in Barking, London.

Reports emerged that ambulances had been called to treat real-life injuries sustained while filming the show. Several players claimed in an interview that "Red Light, Green Light" had actually lasted for 7 hours, where players had to hold poses for up to 30 minutes. Netflix denied the severity of the reports, stating that the injuries were mild medical conditions and that they care about the health and safety of the cast and crew. The local ambulance service also stated it had not been called out to the studios. Britain's Health and Safety Executive evaluated the production after these complaints and found no actionable issues. Two unnamed players from the show threatened to sue Netflix after claiming that they had hypothermia during filming.

### Release

The first five episodes of *Squid Game: The Challenge* were released on 22 November 2023. Episodes 6–9 were released on 29 November, while episode 10, the finale, was released on 6 December.

## Games

### Round 1

Surviivng characters
Player 2 Favour

Player 003 Ike

004 Christiaan

006 Erin

013 Paola

016 Sam

018 Bee

019 Amanda

020 George

021 Emma
023 Siobhan
026 Amber
030 Jin woo
031 Purna

033 Figgy
034 Hannah
035 Megan

039 Anthony
041 Jastin
043 Eddie

## References

1. ↑ https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/squid-game-the-challenge-season-2-casting-1235822776/
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JCq\_hmNhJs
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ay0kD3FSEU
4. ↑ https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/squid-game-the-challenge-release-date-news
5. ↑ https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/squid-game-the-challenge-release-date-news
6. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-64403653
7. ↑ https://deadline.com/2023/02/squid-game-the-challenge-netflix-cleared-hse-review-1235255581/
8. ↑ https://deadline.com/2023/11/squid-game-the-challenge-contestants-threaten-injury-lawsuit-1235635675/