The third and final season of South Korean survival thriller television series ''

Squid Game ''Squid Game'' () is a South Korean Utopian and dystopian fiction, dystopian Survival film, survival Thriller (genre)#Television, thriller horror television series created, written and directed by Hwang Dong-hyuk for Netflix. The series revol ...

'', marketed as ''Squid Game 3'' and created for television by South Korean writer and

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

producer

Hwang Dong-hyuk Hwang Dong-hyuk (; born May 26, 1971) is a South Korean film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for creating the Netflix survival drama series ''Squid Game'' (2021–present) and the crime drama film ''Silenced'' (2011). D ...

, was released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on June 27, 2025. The season stars

Lee Jung-jae Lee Jung-jae (; born December 15, 1972) is a South Korean actor, filmmaker, and businessman. Considered one of South Korea's most successful actors, he has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Screen Actors Guild A ...

Lee Byung-hun Lee Byung-hun (; born July 12, 1970) is a South Korean actor. He has received acclaim for his work in a wide range of genres, most notably '' Joint Security Area'' (2000); '' A Bittersweet Life'' (2005); '' The Good, the Bad, the Weird'' (2008) ...

, Wi Ha-joon,

Im Si-wan Im Si-wan (; born Im Woong-jae, December 1, 1988) is a South Korean actor and singer. He is a member of the South Korean boy band ZE:A and its sub-group ZE:A Five. As an actor, he is best known for starring in the film ''The Attorney'' (2013), ...

Kang Ha-neul Kim Ha-neul (; February 21, 1990), known professionally as Kang Ha-neul (), is a South Korean actor. He gained early recognition through television dramas such as ''The Heirs'' (2013), '' Misaeng: Incomplete Life (2014)'', and '' Moon Lovers: S ...

, Park Gyu-young, Park Sung-hoon,

Yang Dong-geun Yang Dong-geun (; born June 1, 1979), also known as YDG, is a South Korean actor and rapper. He started his career as a child actor, drawing attention for his roles in the television shows ''Seoul Ttukbaegi'' (1990) and ''Hyung'' (1991). He be ...

, Kang Ae-shim,

Jo Yu-ri Jo Yu-ri (; born October 22, 2001) is a South Korean singer and actress. She is known as a former member of the South Korean–Japanese girl group Iz*One. She first gained prominence after participating in Mnet (TV channel), Mnet's reality comp ...

Lee David Lee Da-wit (; born March 3, 1994), Anglicisation of names, anglicized as Lee David, is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his supporting roles in ''Itaewon Class'' (2020) and the Squid Game season 2, second season of ''Squid Game'' (2024 ...

, and

Roh Jae-won Roh Jae-won (; born 13 October 1993) is a South Korean actor who is best known for his performance in ''Squid Game'' (2024–2025). He previously starred in the series ''Daily Dose of Sunshine'' (2023) and ''Doubt'' (2024). Career Roh made h ...

. In the season, Seong Gi-hun and the players fight for survival in ever-deadlier games. In-ho welcomes the

VIPs VIPS or Vips may stand for: * Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, a college in Delhi, India * VIPS (software) image processing software * Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, a group of current and former officials of the Uni ...

while his brother Jun-ho continues the search for the island, unaware of a traitor in their midst.

Episodes

Cast and characters

Numbers in parentheses denote the character's assigned player number in the ''Squid Game'' universe.

Main

as Seong Gi-hun (성기훈, , 456) *

as Hwang In-ho / the Front Man (황인호, ) * Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho (황준호, ) *

as Lee Myung-gi / "MG Coin" (, 333) *

as Kang Dae-ho (, 388) * Park Gyu-young as Kang No-eul () *

Lee Jin-wook Lee Jin-wook (; born September 16, 1981) is a South Korean actor. He rose to fame with leading roles in the romance series '' Glass Castle'' (2008–2009) and '' I Need Romance 2012'' (2012), before gaining wider recognition with his role in th ...

as Park Gyeong-seok (, 246) * Park Sung-hoon as

Cho Hyun-ju Cho Hyun-ju (), also known as Player 120, is a character in both Squid Game season 2, the second and Squid Game season 3, third seasons of South Korean Netflix drama ''Squid Game''. In the series, she is a highly skilled and highly trained ex-R ...

(, 120) *

as Park Yong-sik (, 007) * Kang Ae-shim as Jang Geum-ja (, 149) *

as Kim Jun-hee (, 222) * as Im Jeong-dae (임정대, 100) * as Seon-nyeo (선녀, 044) *

as Nam-gyu (남규, 124) *

as Park Min-su (박민수, 125) * Jeon Seok-ho as Choi Woo-seok *

Oh Dal-su Oh Dal-su (; born 15 June 1968) is a South Korean character actor who has appeared on television, film, and stage. His acting career spans over 35 years. Oh is best known for his supporting roles in director Park Chan-wook's films, having appear ...

as Sea Captain Park Yeong-gil

Recurring

* Park Hee-soon as Masked Officer * Sung Do-hyun as Kim, the mercenary leader * as Kim Yeong-sam (, 226) * Choi Gwi-hwa as Kim Gi-min (203) * Park Jin-woo as Lee Seung-won (336) * Woo Jung-kook as Player 039 * David Sayers as VIP #1 * Jane Wong as VIP #2 * Bryan Bucco as VIP #3 * Jordan Lambertoni as VIP #4 * Kevin Yorn as VIP #5

Guest

* Jung Ho-yeon as Kang Sae-byeok (, 067) * Choi Seung-hyun as Choi Su-bong / "Thanos" (최수봉 / 타노스, 230) * Won Ji-an as Se-mi (세미, 380) * as Park Jung-bae (, 390) * Lee Suk as Player 096 * as Park Mi-hwa (박미화, 006) * Kim Geum-sun as Player 349 * Cho Ah-in as Seong Ga-yeong, Gi-hun's daughter. * Park Hye-jin as Sang-woo's mother * Park Si-wan as Kang Cheol, the younger brother of Kang Sae-byeok * Choi Jae-sup as Choi Jae-sup, a broker *

Cate Blanchett Catherine Élise Blanchett ( ; born 14 May 1969) is an Australian actor and producer. Regarded as one of the best performers of her generation, she is recognised for Cate Blanchett on screen and stage, her versatile work across stage and scre ...

as the American Recruiter Additionally, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk makes a cameo appearance.

Production

Development

Hwang stated in December 2021 that he was discussing a third season of ''

'' with

. The third season was confirmed after season two aired. When Hwang was thinking about the idea for the ending of season three, he thought of season three as the finale. He believed that with that story, he was able to tell everything that he wanted to tell through the story of ''Squid Game'' and also in the perspective of Seong Gi-hun as a character, and that he doesn't need any further stories from here.

Writing

Hwang originally envisioned the

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and third seasons as one, but split them up because he had too many episodes for one season. According to Hwang, at the beginning of the third season, Gi-hun will once again be a changed man compared to the previous two seasons and "at a very critical crossroads". The season will also reveal how Hwang In-ho became the Front Man. Cheol-su, Young-hee's giant robot doll "boyfriend", was introduced in the

post-credits scene A post-credits scene (also known as a stinger, end tag, or credit cookie) is a short teaser clip that appears after the closing credits have rolled and sometimes after a production logo of a film, TV show, or video game has run. It is usually ...

of the second season's final episode and will appear in season three alongside a new game. Speaking about the season, Hwang talks about how the emphasis this season places "on how eoplehave to preserve their humanity amidst this intense competition" but introduced games "that could really show the lowest bottom of human beings" wanting "very intense games to bring out the bottom parts of human nature." He also talked about how the changes Gi-hun and Myung-gi will go through will be "dramatic" and how Jun-hee's baby will be very relevant "not just for Jun-hee, but lsofor the fate of everyone inside."

Casting

and

will reprise their roles as Gi-hun and the Front Man, respectively, along with others who reprise their roles from season two, which are: Wi Ha-joon,

, Park Sung-hoon,

, Park Gyu-young,

, Kang Ae-shim,

, and

, as the season will resume the game of the second season.

appears in a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

at the end of the final episode, takes the role of a recruiter for an American version of the games. Hwang said that "having a woman as a recruiter would be more dramatic and intriguing", and with Blanchett, "We needed someone who could dominate the screen with just one or two words, which is exactly what she did ..f Gong Yoo is the Korean Recruiter, I thought she would be the perfect fit as the American Recruiter, bringing a short but gripping and impactful ending to the story." Lee considered the scene to reflect on the nature of the Squid Games, that "despite all of the noble efforts of so many people, the world still continues as it was before". Some media outlets like ''Variety'' and ''The Hollywood Reporter'' believed that this final scene may help to set up the planned America production of ''Squid Game'' that

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

has been slated to direct, though Netflix had yet to confirm any connection.

Filming

Filming for the season started in July 2023 and ended in June 2024, as it was filmed

back-to-back Back to Back or back-to-back may refer to: Film and theatre *Back to Back (film), ''Back to Back'' (film), a 1996 American action film *Back-to-back film production, the practice of making two films as a unified production *Back to Back Theatre, ...

along with the second season.

Post-production

The editing portion for season three was nearly done in November 2024.

Release

The season was released on

on June 27, 2025.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, 81% of 43 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "The games reach a grim crescendo in this climactic third season, repeating familiar beats but with a ruthlessness that drives creator Hwang Dong-hyuk's themes home."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned a score of 66 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' also gave a positive review of the series, commenting that the series was back to its "brutal best" that "cuts to the bone" with its emotional depth and character arcs, as well as the themes touched on by Hwang in the series.

Notes

References

External links

*
Squid Game
at

{{Squid Game 2020s South Korean television seasons 2025 South Korean television seasons Battle royale (genre) Criticism of capitalism Squid Game Television shows scored by Jung Jae-il Works about North Korean defectors