“This is a savage game,” one contestant says in the first trailer for Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge, a high-stakes reality-competition series based on the streamer’s hit South Korean drama. And while the show’s environment echoes that of its predecessor, complete with identical tracksuits, stacked bunk beds, and that killer “Red Light Green Light” doll, there’s also an effort to emphasize cast members’ friendships in the latest footage.
“You’re the brightest light in here,” one competitor tells another at one point, while a different pair of contestants embrace. This show of unity is in stark contrast to the controversy that has already enveloped the series. Squid Game: The Challenge, which boasts 456 players and a $4.56 million reward—the largest sum in reality TV history—was first announced last June to mixed reception, given the fact that the fictional version warned against a society that pits people against one another in the pursuit of a cash reward.
Although the reality show version doesn’t have deadly consequences, in February, reports of chaos on the set emerged.
Former contestants spoke with Rolling Stone about their experience, alleging that the game was filled with “torment and trauma” and was “rigged” from the start to favor competitors who were influencers. “It was just the cruelest, meanest thing I’ve ever been through,” one of the former contestants told Rolling Stone. “We were a human horse race, and they were treating us like horses out in the cold racing and [the race] was fixed.” Others told the outlet that players were forced to play the “Red Light, Green Light” game in which an evil doll swivels to shoot players who move in sub-freezing temperatures, and that the conditions resulted in at least 10 people collapsing.
Claims that the series is “rigged” or posed “serious harm” to contestants “are simply untrue,” Netflix, Studio Lambert, and The Garden—the studios behind the show, told Vanity Fair in a statement. “We care deeply about the health of our cast and crew, and the quality of this show.” they continued. Any suggestion that the competition is rigged or claims of serious harm to players are simply untrue. We’ve taken all the appropriate safety precautions, including after care for contestants–and an independent adjudicator is overseeing each game to ensure it’s fair to everyone.”
The 10-episode series, which will blend games from the original show with “surprising new additions,” according to the synopsis, will debut on November 22 and air weekly through December 6.
Savannah Walsh
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