Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge Has Audiences Wondering If It’s Real or Fake

Fans of Netflix’s major television hit, Squid Game, are still awaiting its second season. In the meantime, while audiences wait for more deadly drama, the streaming platform has a meta version of the show for everyone to binge: Squid Game: The Challenge.

Taking the same premise as the show (which is fiction), Squid Game: The Challenge features 456 real people as contestants on the show, along with a $4.56 million prize pot. The show features many of the same games played in the drama, while also adding in a few twists here and there (and of course, not causing any actual bodily harm to people). It’s jarring to say the least, considering the South Korean drama’s not-so-subtle commentary on the rich and powerful watching players’ fatal errors for entertainment. Still, like any other competition show, Squid Game: The Challenge is as much about the devastating failures as it is the triumphant wins. Whoever the winner of the show is, they’ll have an unbelievable journey to one of the biggest cash prizes in television history.

As people tune in to the weekly series, they’re probably wondering how similar the show is to Squid Game. The original show is a South Korean sleeper hit, while Squid Game: The Challenge is based in the UK, and involves the creator of the Squid Game drama, Hwang Dong-hyuk. Before checking out the show, people may be wondering: is Squid Game: The Challenge real, or scripted much like the drama that inspired it?

Here’s what we know.

Squid Game: The Challenge is an unscripted reality competition.

Netflix

Don’t be fooled, Squid Game: The Challenge features real people vying for the very real chance of winning $4.56 million by playing a series of childhood games. The show isn’t intended to be preplanned or scripted in any way. That said, the show has had some controversies leading up to its premiere.

In a Rolling Stone article, eliminated contestants spoke about their experiences on the show. They claimed the competition was rigged and the conditions players had to endure were unsafe. While Netflix has denied the allegations, it’s no doubt brought even more attention to the show as it airs.

Netflix

A Variety article also detailed a cold and “inhumane” environment. Contestants said they had to play the show’s infamous “Red light, green light” game in freezing temperatures over seven hours, and even saw people collapse. “This is not a Bear Grylls survival show,” an anonymous contestant told the publication. “If they had told us it was going to be that cold, no one would have gone through with it.”

A TODAY article says there may even be lawsuits due to injuries contestants sustained. “No lawsuit has been filed yet, but we have served letters of claim to the show’s producers for two contestants outlining their injury claims and now we are gathering further evidence before filing court action if necessary,” Express Solicitors told the publication.

All of this is to say, while the show is based on a fictional premise, Squid Game: The Challenge is very much based in reality.

Milan Polk

Milan Polk is an Editorial Assistant for Men’s Health who specializes in entertainment and lifestyle reporting, and has worked for New York Magazine’s Vulture and Chicago Tribune.

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