Ahead of the launch of the second season of the hit series Squid Game, Netflix struck while the iron was hot with the release of the series' first game, Squid Game: Deus Ex. Clearly, Netflix expects the hit series to give a strong boost to the video game business.

Netflix has high hopes for the return of Squid Game, and it's no exaggeration. The South Korean drama series premiered 3 years ago and became an iconic Netflix title almost immediately. Under the hit, the audience's desire for a sequel is increasing day by day. The second season of Squid Game launches on December 26, 2024, the day after Netflix first broadcasts an NFL game. This arrangement undoubtedly further demonstrates how much Netflix attaches importance to this series.

Squid Game Season 2 poster

In addition, Netflix also hopes to take advantage of the launch of the second season as an opportunity to promote its nascent game business through the popularity of the series, and has taken a series of unprecedented decisions and deployments to this end.

On December 17, Netflix launched its first series adaptation of the game "Squid Game: Deus Ex". This Fortnite-inspired multiplayer battle royale game is available to all players for a limited time, regardless of whether you're a Netflix subscriber or not, for free during the first week of the game's launch.

Bill Jackson, project lead for Squid Game: Deus Ex, said in an interview with the media that the game's launch was a significant moment, "and we are very proud to launch this ambitious title during the premiere of the second season of the global hit series." ”

"Squid Game: Deus Ex" has 32 players competing in each game, and just like the scenes in the show, players need to go through a series of levels such as "123, Wooden Man", "Ponkan Game", "High Glass Bridge", etc., and the surviving player can get a huge "bonus".

Netflix offers subscribers a number of exclusive gaming perks: the longer you watch a Squid Game episode on Netflix, the more rewards you earn in the game. Those who watch the full season in one go will not only receive in-game cash prizes (which can be used to purchase items or character skins), but also a unique "Drama Rusher" skin to show off to other players. Bill Jackson said, "When you see this skin, you immediately understand where it came from. In Squid Game: Deus Ex, the first way to express oneself is to choose and customize your character, which is a new way of expression that only viewers who have watched the entire season of the second season will understand. This reward shows their love for the show even more. ”

Squid Game: Deus Ex relies entirely on Netflix subscribers

According to Jackson, the development of "Squid Game: Deus Ex" took "several years" and was an extremely complex project. Usually, it takes a considerable period of time to make a AAA game, and as a rights holder, Netflix can put the music, scenes, and character modeling from the show into the game scene. The pre-launch promotion of the game is based on the results of many in-depth discussions between Netflix's entertainment team and the game team, and the two sides explore how to make the series and the game help each other and share the popularity. "We had a lot of in-depth discussions, like, how do you incorporate great ideas from the show into the game? And how do you introduce elements from the game into other forms? Jackson adds, "When an audience watches a show, they may want to play a game and express their emotions through it; Similarly, gamers may want to watch a show, attend other offline events, or show their love by purchasing merchandise. ”

Despite Netflix's unrivaled position in the streaming space, it's still in its infancy in the gaming space and is relatively small. It was only in 2021 that Netflix announced its intention to increase its gaming business, which it accelerated the following year with the acquisition of mobile game developers (editor's note: including Boss Fight Entertainment, the studio behind Squid Games: Deus Ex).

In 2023, Netflix has partnered with Rockstar Games to add three blockbuster titles to its game library: "GTA 3", "GTA: Vice City" and "GTA: San Andreas". At the beginning of 2024, Netflix won the mobile exclusive rights of the Greek mythology-themed game "Hades"; At the end of that year, the much-talked-about "Monument Valley 3" also became an exclusive game for Netflix. Last year, Netflix appointed Alain Tascan, a former Epic Games executive, as president of its gaming division, with a particular emphasis on the equal importance of platform-owned IP and acquired IP — well-known games like Grand Theft Auto or Sonic the Hedgehog — are equally important. Obviously, the drama and game linkage mode of "Squid Game" is a particularly critical attempt.

Monument Valley 3

Previously, Netflix used the platform to engage with Squid Game viewers to learn about their favorite content from the series and spin-off reality show Squid Game: Challenge. The results show that the game competition in the series that the six relatives don't recognize is what the audience wants to see the most. Similarly, when gamers are asked, "If Netflix made a game, what would you most like to play?", the answer that came up the most was Squid Game. When asked "what do you want to do in the game", the player's answer is overwhelming: if you want to be a contestant, experience the game, the more brutal the better, even if you fail, it doesn't matter. These results eventually led Netflix to decide to develop this competitive game with the theme of "Battle Royale".

Squid Game: Deus Ex doesn't have any form of advertising and relies entirely on Netflix subscribers. According to the statistics of AppMagic, a third-party data agency, "Squid Game: Deus Ex" has been downloaded 10.7 million times, ranking 5th among Netflix's games, and the game topped the iOS free charts in 24 regions on the second day of its launch.

Like other similarly themed games, Squid Game: Deus Ex will continue to evolve, and Netflix plans to keep the game fresh and keep players engaged after the second season of the series airs.

Jackson revealed, "The new games that appeared in the second season of 'Squid Game' also appeared in 'Squid Game: Deus Ex.' Introducing episode elements into the game is the best way for us to promote the interaction between the game and the series. ”

Photo: Douban

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