Squid Game season 3 release date speculation, theories and latest news

The former champion returned to the deadly tournament quietly confident that he would be able to take it down from within, but sabotage by The Front Man (aka Player 001) and unruly competitors like Thanos have put a stop to his revenge plot.

Now, he faces the prospect of another brutal Squid Game final, with the rapidly diminishing number of players questioning what they will be willing to do to get their hands on the competition's enormous jackpot.

Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk has revealed what many suspected by saying that seasons 2 and 3 are two sides of the same story, but he promises that things will come together satisfyingly in the upcoming series finale – which is supposedly the last ever chapter.

Of course, with a franchise as mammoth as Squid Game has become, it seems unlikely that Netflix will lay it to rest permanently, with rumours of a US-based spin-off already swirling.

If you're excited to find out what nasty surprises still await Gi-hun and The Front Man, read on for everything we know so far about Squid Game season 3.

Squid Game season 3 release date speculation

A release window for Squid Game season 3 has been confirmed.

While fans had to wait more than three years for the second chapter of the hit series, it looks like the turnaround on the third entry could be quite rapid.

In an interview with Variety, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk told fans that season 3 could arrive as soon as the summer or autumn of 2025.

"After season 2 launches, I believe we will be announcing the launch date for season 3 soon. I probably expect that to launch around summer or fall next year."

At the start of 2025, Forbes and other outlets reported that a video was erroneously uploaded – and swiftly removed – from Netflix Korea's YouTube channel that supposedly revealed a Squid Game season 3 release date of Friday 27th June 2025.

Given how seasons 2 and 3 were filmed back-to-back, that is certainly a plausible date, with a six month hiatus being long enough to bring viewers rushing back to the show in droves.

However, the video's removal from YouTube by Netflix suggests that this date may not be final and could have been included in the edit as merely a placeholder. In short, take it with a hefty pinch of salt for now.

We'll update this page when an exact Squid Game season 3 release date is confirmed.

Squid Game season 3 cast: Who could return?

Squid Game season 2 introduced a raft of new characters to replace the players who lost their lives in the brutal first edition.

The main characters that we've spent the most time with are still alive by the end of season 2, but a few fan favourites are eliminated in these seven episodes.

For that reason, we probably won't be seeing any more from Lee Seo-hwan as Gi-hun's longtime friend Jung-bae, Lee Jin-wook as desperate father Park Gyeong-seok, Choi Seung-hyun as chaotic rapper Thanos, or Won Ji-an as the empathetic Se-mi.

However, other members of the Squid Game cast are likely to be reprise their roles. These include:

• Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun
• Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho
• Lee Byung-hun as Hwang In-ho
• Im Si-wan as Lee Myung-gi (Player 333)
• Kang Ha-neul as Dae-ho (Player 388)
• Park Sung-hoon as Hyun-ju (Player 120)
• Yang Dong-geun as Park Yong-sik (Player 007)
• Jo Yu-ri as Kim Jun-hee (Player 222)
• Kang Ae-shim as Jang Geum-ja (Player 149)
• Park Gyu-young as No-eul
• Chae Kook-hee as Seon-nyeo (Player 044)
• Lee David as Min-su (Player 125)
• Roh Jae-won as Nam-gyu (Player 124)

Squid Game season 3 plot theories

Little is known about the plot of Squid Game season 3, but it seems that the games are set to resume following Gi-hun's failed attempt at a revolution.

That seems clear from the inclusion of a chilling mid-credits scene, which hints at a second round of Red Light, Green Light, featuring an additional targeting robot to render Gi-hun's clever strategy obsolete.

Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk previously explained how season 2 and 3 relate to one another in an interview with RadioTimes.com.

He said: "Towards the end of season 2, you will see Gi-hun go through a very important and significant event, almost the pinnacle of his character arc, and season 3 is when you will be brought to that closure of Gi-hun’s journey.

"And I think with season 2, you will be in the middle of that progress, that intriguing journey of following Gi-hun and thinking to yourself: 'Will he be able to put an end to this game? Will he succeed, and how will he?'"

It has since become clear that the "important event" referenced by Hwang in the above quote is the execution of his best friend Jung-bae (Lee Seo-hwan) in front of his very eyes.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hwang continued: "The third season will really explore that sense of loss and failure, that guilt weighing so heavily on Gi-hun. How’s he going to navigate the story further with all of that weighing down on him?"

Asked whether he sees the story continuing, he added: "Personally, I see the third season as being the finale to this story. That’s because I believe I’ve had closure to the story I wanted to tell about society through the character of Seong Gi-hun.

"If I ever wanted to go back to the world of Squid Game, it would be about different characters with a different story arc. Some kind of spin-off, maybe. For example, the masked guards. How did they end up here? Something like that, maybe."

Is there a Squid Game season 3 trailer?

Not yet, but Netflix previously shared a compilation of best bits from the show, plus Wednesday and Stranger Things, as all three prepare to return in 2025.

The streamer also shared the season 2 mid-credits scene, which appears to be taken from a season 3 episode, to its social media channels, teasing a terrifying schoolboy robot to complement the iconic Red Light, Green Light schoolgirl.

We'll update this page when more season 3 teasers are released.

Squid Game seasons 1-2 are available to stream on Netflix. Season 3 coming soon. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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