The second season of Squid Game earned a record-breaking debut of 68 million views during its premiere week back in December, so it’s no surprise that another season of the show is on the way. But few could have predicted just how quickly more episodes of the Emmy-winning South Korean drama would come. Netflix announced on January 30 that the third and final season of Squid Game will arrive in June—nearly six months to the day after the previous season dropped on December 26, 2024.
In a letter to fans ahead of season two, series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk—who made history in 2022 when he became the first Asian filmmaker to win the outstanding directing for a drama series Emmy—teased the final season. “The fierce clash between [Gi-hun and Front Man’s] two worlds will continue into the series finale with Season 3,” wrote Hwang. He also vowed to deliver a worthy conclusion to the dystopian epic. “I am thrilled to see the seed that was planted in creating a new Squid Game grow and bear fruit through the end of this story,” he wrote. “We’ll do our best to make sure we bring you yet another thrill ride.”
Squid Game, which revolves around a deadly competition in which 456 desperate players risk their lives playing children’s games for a massive cash prize, debuted in 2021. (That’s a three-year gap in-between the first two seasons.) Emmy winner Lee Jung-jae’s Gi-hun is the lone survivor of season one’s game; in season two, he devotes his life to ending the contest for good.
Ahead, a look at everything we know about Squid Game season three, including what Hwang has said about potential Squid Game spinoffs.
Who is in Squid Game season three?
It is likely that most of season two’s cast will return in some capacity for the final stretch of episodes, outside of Lee Seo-hwan’s Park Jung-bae, who was brutally murdered at the end of the second season. Other key cast members include Lee Byung-hun, Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Wi Ha-jun, Park Gyu-young, Park Sung-hoon, Yang Dong-geun, Kang Ae-sim, Jo Yuri, Lee David, and Roh Jae-won.
Park Gyu-young in Squid Game season three.Noh Ju-han / Netflix
Lee Jung-jae in Squid Game season three.Noh Ju-han / Netflix
What will Squid Game season three be about?
After working with authorities to invade and erode the games from the inside, Gi-hun meets resistance within the playroom arena. Although he’s unable to recruit many allies at first, Gi-hun can always rely on his best friend, Park Jung-bae. With his help, the pair edges closer to their desired uprising. But they’re sabotaged from within by In-ho, a previous winner of the game who has been posing in this round as Player 001 (going by the name Young-il). By season’s end, it is revealed that In-ho is actually the Front Man, a masked face who is running the entire competition.