How did Squid Game become the most-watched Netflix show ever - in any language?

The answer

Squid Game, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, premiered on Netflix on September 17, 2021, and became the platform's most-watched series ever, reaching 1.65 billion viewing hours in its first 28 days. Hwang originally wrote the screenplay in 2008–2009 but was rejected by every Korean studio for a decade - they deemed it too violent and bizarre. Netflix greenlit it in 2019 as part of its Korean content expansion. The show's premise - desperate, debt-ridden adults competing in deadly children's games for a $38 million prize - resonated globally during a period of heightened economic anxiety following the COVID-19 pandemic. It reached number one in 94 countries simultaneously, was watched by an estimated 142 million households in its first month, and generated an estimated $891 million in impact value for Netflix against a production budget of just $21.4 million.