»Squid Game«: Netflix announces sequel for series from South Korea

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Scene from the first season of the hit series

Photo: Youngkyu Park/Netflix/AP

This development should no longer surprise industry insiders - but make the fans of the successful series all the more delighted.

The US streaming service Netflix has confirmed the sequel to the South Korean horror series »Squid Game«.

The format will return for a second season, Netflix announced on Sunday.

It was initially unclear when the new episodes would appear.

The success of the first season brought the streaming service unexpectedly high user growth and a big increase in sales in 2021.

"Squid Game" is about people heavily in debt who take part in deadly children's games in order to win the 45.6 billion won (33 million euros) prize money.

"Squid Game" is the most successful series in the history of the company, it is said to have been watched by 142 million households worldwide.

Netflix had already hinted at a possible sequel in January of this year – but it is only now official.

The streaming service could use another hit.

The fourth season of the science fiction series "Stranger Things" is currently providing good figures, but overall things have been better for the group.

Netflix had recently seen its subscriber base drop for the first time in a decade.

The world's largest streaming provider cited the war in Ukraine, inflation and fierce competition as justification.

Company lays off staff

In the three months to the end of March, around 200,000 subscribers were unsubscribed, the company announced in April.

According to its own forecast, Netflix had actually expected an increase of 2.5 million customers.

In the second quarter of this year, Netflix now expects a drop of 2 million customers.

In mid-May, the company declared that it wanted to lay off around 150 employees due to the weak development.

This corresponds to about two percent of the employees in the home market.

"These changes are primarily driven by business needs and not by individual performance," the company said in a statement.

This makes the step particularly difficult.

jok/Reuters