Squid Game Breaks Netflix Viewership Record in 2021

The hit Netflix series Squid Game broke viewing records in 2021, streaming for over 3 billion minutes in its second week alone, joining Nielsen’s “3 Billion Club.”

Following its release on September 17th, 2021, the critically acclaimed South Korean survival drama series caught viewers and social media by storm. Hwang Dong-hyuk created, wrote, and directed the series, which is Netflix’s most-watched to date.

Record-Breaking Viewership

Squid Game fascinated viewers with its characters and studies of capitalism and class problems Dong-Hyuk witnessed in life, telling the story of 465 players competing for a great monetary prize through a succession of children’s games with dangerous twists.

The show’s themes have been explored, it has been referenced in memes, and celebrity admirers such as NBA star LeBron James and WandaVision actor Kat Dennings have aired their opinions on the series. It’s little wonder that Squid Game has continued to set records after becoming a pervasive and ever-present presence in the popular consciousness.

3 Billion Club

According to The Wrap, Nielsen TV Ratings stated that Squid Game was streamed for 3.260 billion minutes in its second full week, from September 27th to October 3rd. This not only tops the 1.9 billion minutes streamed during the show’s first week but also makes it the first and only show this year to reach 3 billion streams in a single week.

Squid Game has joined Nielsen’s “3 Billion Club,” which includes notable Netflix films like The Crown, Ozark, You, Tiger King, and The Umbrella Academy.

The success of Squid Game apparently surprised Netflix executives, who described the show’s 142 million household viewership as “mind-boggling” during the company’s third-quarter results report. However, despite its widespread popularity, Squid Game has sparked a number of debates, ranging from criticisms of the series’ English language dub to reports from schools in Belgium and the United Kingdom that children were starting fights and recreating the show’s twisted incarnations of children’s games in the playground. Squid Game’s popularity is likely to rise throughout the Halloween season, with the show expected to dominate Halloween costumes.