It appears that Netflix has a new most-watched TV series. According to the streaming service, Squid Game has overtaken Bridgerton to become its most popular launch ever.
Netflix tweeted out the news, announcing that Squid Game had “officially reached 111 million fans”, making it the company’s largest series launch to date. While great news, it’s worth taking this with a grain of salt. Netflix is notoriously guarded about its viewership stats, making verification difficult, and the platform’s definition of a “view” is someone watching two minutes of an episode. This claim doesn’t necessarily mean that many people have watched the Netflix TV series front-to-back or even seen an entire episode.
That all said, the streamer has been open about wanting to make more of the sci-fi series as soon as creator Hwang Dong-hyuk is available. Touting these numbers indicates a lot of confidence in where the South Korean show could go. “[Hwang] has a film and other things he’s working on,” Bela Bajaria, head of global TV at Netflix, said on the prospect of another season. “We’re trying to figure out the right structure for him.”
Squid Game follows hundreds of people who are down and out, competing in a mysterious, lethal gameshow for the chance to win millions of dollars. The nine-episode first season has become a cultural phenomenon, and one Netflix didn’t expect.
Squid Game has officially reached 111 million fans — making it our biggest series launch ever! pic.twitter.com/SW3FJ42Qsn
— Netflix (@netflix) October 12, 2021
“We did not see that coming, in terms of its global popularity,” Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, said when it first became apparent it might out-do Bridgerton. Whatever your metric, over one hundred million people is a lot of eyes, and a high watermark.
Maybe The Witcher season 2, or Stranger Things season 4 will take it next? We’ll have to wait and see.