With Squid Game's return in 2024 allowing the tense South Korean drama to climb the rankings for the 2024-2025 TV season, Netflix's decision to bring the series to a close in its third season feels like a misuse of the show's true potential. After taking the world by storm in 2021, Hwang Dong-Hyuk's drama about desperate players thrown into deadly childhood games for a life-changing cash prize returned in full force. In season 2, Lee Jung-jae's Gi-hun returns to the Games, hoping to break the cycle and end the bloodshed.

Despite his noble intentions, however, Gi-hun's plan attracts the attention of the masked Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), who steps into the Games among a cast of new players to sabotage his efforts. After Gi-hun and the Front Man, whose name is In-ho, attempted to instigate a revolt, the pink-clad masked guards brutally quelled the riot, pushing the Games onward. Squid Game season 3 will arrive on June 27, and the final season will bring Gi-hun's tale to a close.

Squid Game Is The Most-Viewed Show Of The 2024-25 Season

Even Netflix's Later Global Sensations Came Second Place

As reported by Screen Rant earlier in the week, Netflix dominated the 2024-2025 streaming landscape, according to Nielsen's multiplatform ratings, with the returning Squid Game netting the top position on the charts. According to the ratings, Squid Game managed to accumulate an impressive 27.1 million viewers within its first five days of streaming. Even when compared to Netflix's fellow hit 2025 discussion-provoking drama Adolescence, which took second place, the K-drama series sured it by an estimated 8.1 million viewers.

Despite Being The Most-Viewed Show, Squid Game Is Ending With Season 3

Season 2's Development Paved The Way For A Quick Turnaround

With this, it is clear that Squid Game remains a massive draw for many subscribers to the streaming service. However, the series' fate had already been predetermined by the time season 2 debuted, with it being confirmed in December 2024 that Squid Game would be coming to a close with a third season filmed back-to-back with the second. This was partly due to Hwang's original story for season 2 having outstretched the capacity for a single season, explaining why the writing had such a quick turnaround that allowed for work to begin immediately.

Furthermore, thanks to this swift development and production process, Squid Game season 2's mid-credits scene lays the groundwork for Gi-hun's final ordeal. With the Games set to resume, a new version of the iconic "Red Light, Green Light" game is teased, with the lethal Young-hee doll being ed by a male doll named Chul-Su. As such, Hwang seems to be bringing the series full circle with the final act of the story in a poetic manner by returning to the series' first game.

I'm Surprised Netflix Is Willing To Lose Squid Game After It's Massive Success

Does Netflix Have The Programming To Keep Viewers Subscribed?

Despite what is expected to be a season that brings Netflix's hit series to a perfect close, Nielsen's ratings do show that Squid Game ending so soon may not be the best play. Alongside Squid Game, Netflix will also be saying farewell to Stranger Things, with its fifth and final season scheduled to be released across November and December 2025. As such, 2025 will see the platform let go of what have been two of its most acclaimed projects so far, casting doubts on whether the service has enough to keep its subscribers invested in their hip.

Furthermore, the scope of what could occur in the Squid Game universe still feels untapped. While the three seasons focusing on Gi-hun and the Front Man create a captivating battle of ideals on human nature, elements such as the mysterious nature of the Games and its powerful benefactors and spectators are still areas worth exploring, diving into what draws these people to the horror. As such, should Squid Game leave some questions unanswered, many may remain eager for more.

However, Hwang has also been open about the strain writing season 1 brought him, as well as stating that an David Fincher's English-language Squid Game adaptation tie into the original South Korean drama if it enters production, Squid Game may continue to be a Netflix hit for some time after all.