We knew Squid Game would be a huge hit when it returned for Season 2, as Season 1 was by far the most-watched Netflix series of all time. But now a completely new record has been set.

We don’t know the number of spectators yet, it’s too early for that, but of course it will be huge. Rather, the record in question is that Squid Game Season 2 is the first series to debut at No. 1 in all 93 countries where Netflix is ​​available. Of course, this applies everywhere, from the USA to Cyprus and Honduras to Kenya, Oman and Thailand. The whole globe.

That just doesn’t happen. Even big shows that do well on the global charts never make it to the stage at the same time ranked #1 on the service because some regions always prefer one series over another, no matter how popular it is. But this is a clean break for Squid Game, something the original failed to do as it took some time to go fully viral. But not Stranger Things, not Wednesday, nothing else.

Now we are waiting for spectators. I didn’t think Squid Game’s second season could surpass the first season’s 2.2 billion hours watched, but I guess I can’t rule it out with a debut like this. You might think that having to catch up on a series means subsequent seasons of series by definition can’t achieve higher viewership, but that’s simply not the case. Shows like “Money Heist” and “Stranger Things” have much higher viewership than when they started.

In this case, if there’s anything going against Squid Game season 2, it’s that this season only has 7 episodes, compared to 9 in season 1, meaning the season would cost two hours less per viewer to complete. However, it could get more viewers overall.

Additionally, the second season of Squid Game is not as well received as the first season. The reason for this is 63% viewership on Rotten Tomatoes, as opposed to 83% for the first season. It feels more like half a season where (spoiler) the show stops in the middle of the games and the rest goes into next year’s season 3 comes to an end. It ends a bit abruptly and the storylines that were built up end up going nowhere, maybe a little to A kind of preparation for season 3. So I definitely understand the criticism.

I suspect Squid Game Season 2 will post much better numbers than Season 1, at least in its debut week, but in the long run? Can it capture the original? That remains to be seen, but this record-breaking debut couldn’t be a better start.

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