Netflix’s Squid Game Reality Show was Reportedly an ‘Inhumane Disaster’

Squid Game, Netflix’s 2021 drama about a deadly competition for a massive cash prize, captured hearts for its critical stance on capitalism. Now, Netflix is creating a reality spinoff called Squid Game: The Challenge, and it seems that its filming conditions aren’t far from the inhumane conditions presented in the original show, with several contestants speaking out about unsafe filming environments and claiming that the game was rigged.

Squid Game: The Challenge features 456 participants competing for a massive $4.56 million prize. While the participants in the upcoming 10-episode series compete in children’s games similar to those in the original Squid Game, Netflix has been careful to let viewers know that “the worst fate is going home empty-handed.”

But based on multiple reports, conditions on the show have been difficult, to say the least.

Gathered in a former air hangar near London for filming, unpaid participants in Squid Game’s reality spinoff reportedly faced freezing temperatures and fatigue — they had been woken up as early as 3:30 a.m. and remained on set for up to nine hours, unable to move for long stretches of time due to the game they were playing, according to Variety.

At least 10 participants collapsed during the first day of filming, according to Rolling Stone. Medics were called to the set repeatedly, with one contestant even referring to the set as a “warzone.”

[P]eople were dropping like flies

“The second time the song played, I saw in my left peripheral vision that this girl was swaying. Then she just buckled, and you could hear her head actually hit the ground,” contestant Marlene told Variety. “But then someone came on the [microphone] and said to hold our positions because the game is not paused. After that, people were dropping like flies.”

Several contestants also claimed that the game was rigged, citing the fact that a few influencer contestants were pre-selected to move onto new rounds regardless of their results, according to Rolling Stone. Two contestants also told Rolling Stone that Netflix (which flew international contestants into London for filming) had already booked their return flights before the games began, and these flights later turned out to occur right after the contestants’ eliminations.

“It really wasn’t a game show. It was a TV show, and we were basically extras in a TV show,” an anonymous contestant told Rolling Stone.

Netflix first announced casting for the spinoff in June, and players began reporting injuries shortly after filming began. We gave the original Squid Game’s first season a 9 in our review, calling it “one of the most exciting series to hit Netflix in some time.”

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.