‘Squid Game’ to end with Season 3

By Dan Heching, CNN

(CNN) — Those who love Netflix’s beguiling Korean series “Squid Game” will be getting a belated Christmas present later this year, before it all comes to an end in 2025.

On Wednesday, Netflix announced that its Emmy-winning drama “Squid Game” will finally return with Season 2 on December 26.

The streamer also shared that a third and final season is also planned, which will premiere sometime next year.

Set in Seoul, the dystopian series – which became the biggest show in Netflix’s history – saw hundreds of contestants in desperate need of money play deadly children’s games to win a major cash prize.

Hwang Dong-hyuk – who wrote, directed and executive produced the series – said in a letter included with the announcement from Netflix that on the first day of production on Season 2, it “almost felt surreal” being back in the world of “Squid Game,” which debuted in 2021.

“I wonder how it will feel for you to be back in Squid Game after three years, as well,” he wrote.

In the new installment of the series, Player 456/a.k.a. Gi-hun (Lee Jung-Jae, currently starring in “The Acolyte”) “remains determined to find the people behind the game and put an end to their vicious sport,” according to a synopsis for Season 2.

Using his winnings from the first game to fund his search, Gi-hun “starts with the most obvious of places: look for the man in a sharp suit playing ddakji in the subway. But when his efforts finally yield results, the path toward taking down the organization proves to be deadlier than he imagined: to end the game, he needs to re-enter it.”

“Squid Game” became a pop culture phenomenon when it debuted in September 2021, and was the first non-English language series nominated for the outstanding drama series at the Emmys. It received 14 nominations, with Jung-jae winning outstanding lead actor in a drama series and director Dong-hyuk taking the award for top director.

Both men were the first South Koreans to win Emmys in their respective categories.

CNN’s Heather Chen and Gawon Bae contributed to this story.

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