Spoilers for Squid Game seasons 1 and 2 ahead.
Are you ready for the final season of Netflix's hit South Korean drama? Following that massive cliffhanger, Squid Game season 3 is officially just around the corner, and Netflix is already giving us a taste of what's to come.
At Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event on Saturday, May 31, the streamer released the first full-length trailer for Squid Game season 3 — and Lee Jung-jae and the main cast of the show promised that the final games “will shock the world one last time.”
Unless you've been living under a rock, you’ve probably already heard of Squid Game (or 오징어 게임), which took over the world after its global premiere on September 17, 2021. In literal days, Squid Game became one of the streamer's biggest hits, racking up an unprecedented number of views and dominating everything from Twitter discourse (and memes) to TikTok's FYPs.
Squid Game is not Netflix's first dark K-drama, as zombie period dramas Kingdom, Extracurricular, Sweet Home, and D.P. also fall in line with the noir elements Squid Game has to offer. However, there's something about the Squid Game phenomenon that just can't be matched — the show even spawned its own, albeit controversial, reality competition series, Squid Game: The Challenge.
According to The Guardian, Squid Game is the first Korean production to top the streaming giant's popular list in the U.S. But that’s not even the most impressive part. According to Deadline, Netflix's co-chief executive officer and chief content officer Ted Sarandos revealed the K-drama could be Netflix's biggest show ever should its viewership continue its early pattern — and it did just so.
Squid Game is a battle royale-style survival series that focuses on traditional Korean children's games instead of overly complicated mazes or courses, with social commentary sprinkled in. Season one ended with Lee Jungjae's Gihun, the winner of the Squid Game, seemingly plotting to infiltrate the games and join the bloodbath once again. Season two ended with him failing on that front — at least, so far.
Squid Game season 2 premiered about three years after the first season, on Dec. 26, 2024, and brought in a new cast of players — including Big Bang's T.O.P, Kang Aesim, The Glory's Park Sunghoon, Jo Yuri, Yim Siwan, and more — new games, and even more intense action scenes.
If you have been dying (no pun intended) to know more about Squid Game season 3, here’s what you need to know about the final season of the series.
Is there a Squid Game season 3 trailer?
There's actually not one but three trailers for Squid Game season 3. Netflix put out the most recent trailer for Squid Game season 3, officially referred to as the final trailer, on June 13, 2025.
In the final trailer, which you can watch below, we see Geumja (a.k.a. Player 149) in conversation with Gihun. “Are you blaming yourself for everything that has happened?” she asks him, as flashbacks from the two previous seasons take over the screen. “No matter how you look at it, life is just unfair. Bad people do bad things, but they blame others and go on to live in peace. Good people, on the other hand, beat themselves up about the smallest things. I still believe that you came here to save us all.”
As noted above, the first full-length look at Squid Game season 3 was unveiled at Netflix Tudum 2025: The Live Event on May 31, 2025. The death count is high, and the players are desperate for a way out — and Player 456 and The Frontman come face to face as the final game comes to an end. You can watch that trailer below:
Netflix previously released the first teaser for Squid Game season 3 on May 6, 2025. In the teaser, which you can watch above, we see Gihun ushered back into the games facilities inside one of the games' coffins. Though he's bleeding, he's alive.
Then, the games seemingly commence again with players drawing red and white balls from a gumball machine to sort them into teams. “It's time to play one more last time,” the words on the screen read as we get a glimpse of the VIPs and hear the cries of Junhee's baby.
There is also a tiny teaser that comes in the mid-credits of the last episode. The scene shows three players — 353, 100, and 096 — approaching the back of creepy doll Younghee, who is facing a new boy doll and a green/red light that looks a bit like a train signal. A hint at the next game, perhaps?
When is Squid Game season 3 coming out?
Netflix has officially confirmed that Squid Game season 3 will premiere on June 27, 2025, just six months and one day after season 2 hit the streamer.
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The shorter wait makes sense since it was previously reported that season 2 and season 3 of Squid Game were filmed simultaneously. On June 14, 2024, South Korean publication OSEN published an exclusive report confirming season 2 of Squid Game had wrapped filming after 11 months. Filming for season 2 started in July 2023 and ended in June 2024. It took so long precisely because seasons 2 and 3 were filmed back-to-back, meaning a continuous story was broken into two parts with a shorter gap between releases.
What will Squid Game season 3 be about??
Squid Game released seven anxiety-inducing episodes at the end of 2024. Season 2 brings Seong Gihun (Lee Jungjae) voluntarily back into the games, as he seeks to destroy them and their infrastructure (and the mysterious Front Man) from the inside. That mission takes him back to the island with 455 new fellow competitors — and a familiar face, as his longtime best friend Junbae (Lee Seohwan) has also joined the games out of debt desperation. Gihun enters the games feeling confident; he's recently beaten the Salesman (Gong Yoo) at his own game, resulting in his death.
But while Gihun has experience with the games, it's not as easy as he might have expected; his fellow players don't trust him, even after he says he's done it before. “Why the hell would you come crawling back?” someone asks after the revelation. And though they do play Red Light, Green Light, the ensuing childhood games aren't the same ones we saw in season 1. His authority is questioned, and he isn't able to successfully persuade the competitors to vote to end the games.
Enter: drastic measures. Gihun stages a coup led by a group of allies that kill soldiers on their quest to the Front Man. (They also sustain losses, as the Front Man kills Jungbae during the battle.) Gihun doesn't know yet that he actually knows the Front Man in the games — he's been playing as Gihun's important ally Player 001, under the fake name Youngil, and staged his death in the battle so he could resume the Front Man identity.
Prior to the games beginning, Gihun partners with detective Junho on their joint mission to get to the bottom of the games, so while Gihun competes, Junho is on a tireless sea quest to track him. As the episodes progress, this does not go well. In the finale, we learn that the ship captain Junho has been working with is actually a saboteur; Captain Park kills one of Junho's henchmen and throws him overboard, but nobody else knows yet about his deception.
And so Squid Game season 2 ends on a bleak note: many of Gihun's friends are dead, Junho doesn't know he's wasting his time and caught in a trap, and the game makers seem to be thriving. So, we can expect Squid Game season 3 to pick up right after this and give us a much-needed conclusion — which will likely also come with some more deaths.
“You realize that Gihun’s attempts to put an end to the game have failed — in two ways,” director Hwang told Tudum after season 2. He's now in a “state of deep despair.” “Is he still going to believe that he will be able to persuade others and leave together or put an end to the game?” Hwang asked the outlet. “Or will he give in and become a completely different person? Someone just like the Front Man, who thinks, ‘What can I change?’"
Are there any first-look photos from Squid Game season 3?
We have a handful of first-look photos from Squid Game season 3. Netflix released the first five photos from Squid Game season 3 on Jan. 30, 2025. They give us a peek at The Front Man both with and without his mask, Kang No-eul in her soldier uniform but without her mask (and seemingly outside…. so she might be linking up with detective Junho and his crew), as well as Gihun handcuffed to the communal bunk beds facing an ominous silhouette (perhaps because his master plan has failed?). Finally, some of the players gathered around the black and pink coffin used for deceased players.
To coincide with the release of the first teaser trailer, the streamer put out another set of photos, showing the players going through it, The Front Man in his Big Brother chair, and detective Junho ready to dive. You can see all the photos below:
Taking into account the deaths from season 2, we can assume at least the following cast will appear in season 3: Gihun (Lee Jungjae), The Front Man/Inho (Lee Byunghun), Junho (Wi Hajun), pregnant Junhee (former IZ*ONE member Jo Yuri) and her ex-boyfriend Myunggi (Run-On's Yim Siwan), Hyunju (The Glory's Park Sunghoon), Jang Geumja (Move to Heaven's Kang Aesim) and her wayward son Yongsik (Yang Donggeun), Daeho (Kang Haneul), and more of the competitors.
One major question mark? Gyeongseok (Lee Jinuk), the doting father trying to save his daughter's life, who received some protection from North Korean defector and soldier Kang No-eul (Park Gyuyoung). The character appears to die in season 2, but we're not totally sold…
When was Squid Game season 3 announced?
Hwang Donghyuk himself confirmed season 3 in his letter announcing the date for season 2, confirming Season 3 of Squid Game will be the final season of the series.
“The fierce clash between [Seong Gihun and the Front Man's] worlds will continue into the series finale with Season 3,” Hwang wrote in his letter. “I am thrilled to see the seed that was planted in creating a new Squid Game grow and bear fruit through the end of this story. We'll do our best to make sure we bring you yet another thrill ride. I hope you're excited for what's to come.”
This post will be updated as news about Squid Game season 3 breaks.
