Netflix has officially confirmed what millions of viewers have long suspected: Squid Game will return for a second season.
The series’ writer-director Hwang Dong-hyuk announced the news Sunday in a letter to fans, noting that the global popularity of the South Korean show paved the way for a Season 2.
“It took 12 years to bring the first season of Squid Game to life last year. But it took 12 days for Squid Game to become the most popular Netflix series ever,” Hwang wrote, providing a slight tease at next season: “And now, Gi-hun returns. The Front Man returns. Season 2 is coming. The man in the suit with ddakji might be back. You’ll also be introduced to Young-hee’s boyfriend, Cheol-su.”
He added, “Join us once more for a whole new round.” However, the streaming service did not provide a potential release date (or even a year) when Squid Game might return.
Netflix chief content officer and co-CEO Ted Sarandos previously stated that Squid Game was “absolutely” coming back for Season 2 after the show quickly became Netflix’s most watched series globally ever. “The Squid Game universe has just begun.”
Hwang added in an interview that he was “in talks with Netflix over Season Two as well as Season Three. We will come to a conclusion any time soon.” Still, a second season wasn’t officially cemented until Sunday’s announcement, with Hwang even hedging that the series could have ended with the first season’s final episode.
“It’s true that Season One ended in an open-ended way, but I actually thought that this could be good closure for the whole story, too,” Hwang told The Hollywood Reporter. “Season One ends with Gi-hun turning back and not getting on the plane to the States. And that was, in fact, my way of communicating the message that you should not be dragged along by the competitive flow of society, but that you should start thinking about who has created the whole system — and whether there is some potential for you to turn back and face it.”