There’s plenty to be said about a ruthless and bloody takedown of capitalism being utilized as the basis for a reality TV series that sets hundreds of competitors on a quest to net a multi-million dollar prize, but Netflix has avoided self-awareness and ignored the irony to plow ahead with Squid Game: The Challenge regardless.
As one of the biggest shows in the history of the streaming service’s existence that smashed several records in terms of audience share and viewership, it would be reasonable to expect the real-life version to follow down that path. That’s exactly what it’s done, too, with the company touting both its 456 competitors and $4.56 million winnings as the biggest reality television has ever seen.
It hasn’t been without controversy, though, seeing as widespread reports of unsafe conditions and repeated on-set injuries led to an external safety investigation taking place, but it would appear from the outside looking in that Netflix passed that particular test with flying colors. The Challenge is on course to hit screens on Nov. 22, but subscribers might not be getting every episode at once.
Per Deadline, the platform is exploring the option of a staggered release, which would presumably see new installments rolled out at regular intervals or split in half and dropped weeks apart like many of its highest-profile fictional shows. It’s a pretty transparent way to reap twice the rewards when it comes to data, but reality TV is admittedly a format well-suited to weekly rollouts, as proven by pretty much the entirety of its existence since the genre first punctured the mainstream.
