– Unlike typical survival dramas, Squid Game invests heavily in backstories. Viewers care about the misfits: the smart North Korean defector (HoYeon Jung), the hidden villain with a brain tumor (Heo Sung-tae), and the tragic contestant Ali (Anupam Tripathi).
When Netflix released Squid Game in September 2021, no one could have predicted the global phenomenon it would become. Created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, this nine-episode South Korean survival drama quickly shattered streaming records, becoming Netflix’s most-watched series of all time within just a few weeks. Squid Game Netflix
The show’s success signaled a paradigm shift for Netflix. It validated their investment in local content with global appeal. The algorithm did not care that the show was in Korean; it cared that viewers were clicking play and, crucially, staying to watch the next episode. – Unlike typical survival dramas, Squid Game invests