Cate Blanchett as the American Recruiter standing in an alley in the Squid Game series finale©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
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Matthew Rudoy
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5 minutes ago
Matthew Rudoy is one of ScreenRant's Movie & TV News Editors. He covers the latest in movie & TV news, with a focus on major franchises like Star Wars, The Boys, and Game of Thrones. He wrote lists for ScreenRant from 2017-2022, became a news writer in 2023, a senior staff writer in 2024, and an editor in 2025.
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A violent historical moment inspired Squid Game, which is the most-watched show in Netflix history. With 265.2 million views, season 1 holds the top spot in the streamer's Top 10 non-English shows. It also surpasses Wednesday season 1, which leads the Top 10 English chart with 252.1 million views.
While reviews for Squid Game season 2 and season 3 were more mixed, the streaming numbers further cemented it as Netflix's most-watched show. Season 2 is in second place on the non-English Top 10 at 192.6 million views, followed by season 3 in third place with 145.8 million views.
Is Squid Game Based On A True Story?
Squid Game Netflix
The dystopian plot of Squid Game's players choosing to partake in deadly versions of children's games in the hopes of winning $4.56 billion won is fictional and not based on a true story. Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), Hwang In-ho/the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), Oh Il-nam (O Yeong-su), and the rest of the characters are fictional as well.
Despite the plot and characters not being directly based on true events, though, there is historical truth in certain elements of the series, especially where the role of Gi-hun is concerned.
Seong Gi-hun's Role In Squid Game Was Based On The Violent SsangYong Motor Strike
Lee Jung-jae as Seong in Squid Game.Image via MovieStills DB
In season 1, Gi-hun's backstory connects to the SsangYong Motor Strike. This is a real event in South Korean history that began with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, which had a controlling stake in the SsangYong Motor Company, filing for bankruptcy in January 2009.
This led to mass layoffs at SsangYong. In the weeks after that, per The New York Times, 2,000 workers resigned voluntarily. As 36% of the workforce was subsequently cut, all 970 workers at the Pyeongtaek, South Korea plant were let go too.
In response to these layoffs, factory workers organized a sit-in that went on for 77 days. The conflict between the protesters and the police is described by Peoples Dispatch as "among the most fierce workers’ struggles South Korea has witnessed in almost two decades." This escalated into a violent attack against the workers:
In mid-July, the police launched a full blown assault on the factory with thousands of heavily armed riot police, water cannons and helicopters launching tear gas onto the roofs. The striking workers used improvised sling shots, Molotov cocktails, nuts and bolts, and even bare hands to resist the attack. Many workers were severely injured during the police operations, but refused to bow down and leave the factory.
In an interview with AFP (via NME), Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk explained that he wanted to refer to Gi-hun being laid off by SsangYong to emphasize how quickly an individual can fall in a brutally economic world.
Through the reference to the SsangYong Motor layoffs, I wanted to show that any ordinary middle-class person in the world we live in today can fall to the bottom of the economic ladder overnight. I think viewers around the world deeply relate to the theme of economic inequality portrayed in Squid Game.
Being in this situation makes Gi-hun desperate enough to participate in and even return to Squid Game's deadly games, seeing it as his only means to make money quickly and save himself from the life-threatening debt he is in.
What Else Inspired Netflix's Squid Game
Ali (Anapum Tripathi) and Sang-woo (Park Hae-soo) playing marbles as a guard watches in Squid Game season 1, episode 6Noh Juhan/©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
In the same interview with AFP, Hwang discusses how the Squid Game season 1 character, Ali Abdul (Anupam Tripathi), was partly inspired by the creator's own experiences. Ali is a Pakistani migrant worker who faces prejudice and enters the games after his employer withholds the wages he earned, and the discrimination is something that Hwang experienced before while traveling abroad.
When I visited the UK at age 24, a white staff member at airport immigration gave me a dismissive look and made discriminatory comments. I find it truly shocking to this day. I think I was someone like Ali back then.
It was widely circulated on social media that the South Korean interment camp, Brothers Home, also inspired Squid Game, but this has since been disproven, including by The Korea Times, and Hwang has never confirmed any kind of connection to it. AI-generated images were used alongside real photos to spread this misinformation.
Subscribe for deeper takes on Squid Game and history
Unpack the real-world roots of Squid Game by subscribing to the newsletter for clear, sourced analysis of the show's historical inspirations, labor struggles, and how creators translate reality into fiction. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.Sources: Netflix, Netflix, The New York Times, Peoples Dispatch, AFP (via NME), The Korea Times
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Squid Game
10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed TV-MA Action & Adventure Mystery Drama Thriller Release Date 2021 - 2025 Network Netflix Showrunner Hwang Dong-hyuk Directors Hwang Dong-hyuk Writers Hwang Dong-hyukCast
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Lee Jung-jae
Seong Gi-hun / 'No. 456'
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Wi Ha-jun
Detective Hwang Jun-ho
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