Netflix Announces IRL Squid Game Tournament With Huge Cash Prize

If there’s anything that we as a society know how to do, it’s take fictional dystopian stories and think, ‘you know what, it’d be a great idea to do this in real life’. Forget your cautionary tales, competing to the death sounds like it could be great fun.

While popular YouTuber MrBeast previously recreated Netflix’s Squid Game in real life last year, the streaming giant is now jumping on board with the idea themselves. As reported by Deadline, they’ve just confirmed that the iconic series is being transformed into a reality competition show, featuring 456 players and the biggest cash prize in reality TV history.

Take a look at the trailer for the new Squid Game reality series right here.

Named Squid Game: The Challenge, the series is reportedly going to be 10 parts long, and will see its contestants competing in games, both inspired by the show, and totally new ones. As for the cash prize, it’s set to be a whopping $4.56 million (£3.7 million), which might not be quite as much as the original show’s 45.6 billion Won prize ($35.3/£29.2 million), but it’s certainly not to be sniffed at.

“Squid Game took the world by storm with Director Hwang’s captivating story and iconic imagery. We’re grateful for his support as we turn the fictional world into reality in this massive competition and social experiment,” said Brandon Riegg, Netflix’s vice president of Unscripted and Documentary Series (via Deadline). “Fans of the drama series are in for a fascinating and unpredictable journey as our 456 real world contestants navigate the biggest competition series ever, full of tension and twists, with the biggest ever cash prize at the end.”

If you fancy your chances, you can actually apply to take part right now - the show is currently searching for English-speaking contestants around the world. Head over to the casting website now, if you dare. Reassuringly, the site adds: “Please note: Win or lose, all players will leave unscathed. But if you win, you win big!”

So, no one’s going to die. In theory. I think I might still stay away from this one.