Squid Game: The Challenge receives severe audience backlash

The new Netflix reality TV adaptation of the K-drama Squid Game aired on November 22. The reactions from fans have been severely negative. Here’s everything they had to say.

The highly anticipated game show inspired by Netflix’s Squid Games finally aired on the 22nd of November. The premise of the show was exactly the same as the original Korean drama. In Squid Game: The Challenge 456 contestants compete for a prize of $4.56 million.

However, things didn’t look bright for this adaptation ever since its first trailer dropped. The show was not well received and the fans had a lot to say. Here is everything we know about the situation.

What did the fans say about Squid Game: The Challenge?

The biggest complaint that the majority of fans had was how they never asked for a game show in the first place. Instead, fans want a second season of the OG show. They criticized how the time and resources that went into creating Squid Game: The Challenge could have been used for season two.

Another big critique had to do with the existence of the games itself. Viewers were disappointed in how Netflix decided to create a game that criticized capitalism and how it forced people to make radical choices.

One X/Twitter user said, “How are you so ignorant to the entire point of the show that was on your platform, like did you even watch it?”

After the release, the backlash caught more heat as certain contestants voiced out being mistreated on set. The criticism got so loud that the executive producer of the show, Stephen Lambert, had to respond. The producer expressed that capitalist critique was just one strand of Squid Game.

He said, “It’s also about how people behave under pressure. Our show isn’t about people in need. But it’s also a critique of how we are ingrained from childhood to be ultra-competitive via these childhood games. It’s also about how people behave under pressure. It’s about people being presented with an opportunity. So we flip that on its head.”