“Prepare for the Final Game”: Netflix Unveils Release Date, First Look Photos of ‘Squid Game’ Season 3 – Hollywood Reporter
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterThe streamer announced the hit show’s return at its 2025 slate presentation.
By
Nicole Fell
Netflix has announced the release date for the highly anticipated third season of Squid Game.
Unveiled during the streamer’s major slate presentation, Next on Netflix, the Korean-language drama is slated to return on June 27. Squid Game — Netflix’s most popular series — is returning for its final installment, following the release of season two on Dec. 26. The series earned the highest single-week viewing tally for any streaming title in the U.S. in 2024 with 4.92 billion minutes of viewing for the week of Dec. 23-29.
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Jumping back in after season two’s cliffhanger, the final season, according to a synopsis, follows “Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) after losing his best friend in the game and being driven to utter despair by The Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), who was hiding his true identity to infiltrate the game. Gi-hun persists with his goal to put an end to the game, while the Front Man continues onto his next move and the surviving players’ choices will lead to graver consequences with each round.” The season’s unnerving, newly released poster warns viewers to “prepare for the final game.”
The streamer also points to clues in the key art (below): “Gone is the rainbow-hued track of season two’s six-legged pentathlon; in its place, a vivid swirling flower-pattern floor ominously foreshadows the cutthroat finale to come. The sinister silhouettes of Young-hee and her companion Cheol-su — first hinted at in last season’s post-credit scene — suggest that even more brutal games lie ahead.”
Writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk, who returns for the final season, had previously said he crafted a three-season arc, but he’s not adverse to future spinoffs. “When we were doing season one, I was saying there was never going to be another season,” Hwang told The Hollywood Reporter during season two’s launch. “And so if the time comes, and it just so happens that I’m able to come up with a character or a different story, then maybe there might be a comeback. But I’m thinking more along the lines of a spinoff.”
Netflix also released a batch of first-look photos ahead of the June release. Take a peek at the newly released pics, below.Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every dayInside the business of TV with breaking news, expert analysis and showrunner interviewsSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSend us a tip using our anonymous form.
