Squid Game season 3 is almost here, and we can't wait to see how Player 456's journey comes to an end. If you want to know everything about the goodbye of Netflix's most popular show ever, below we've put together a guide about the Squid Game season 3 release date, confirmed cast, plot, trailers, and more. Ready to survive the games one last time?
With a final trailer teasing some intense confrontations and long-awaited revelations, it's pretty clear that the show is going out with a bang. We can only hope that our favorite characters survive, although, as we learned from season 1, there is not a lot of room for survival at the end of the games.
Given the huge success of Squid Game season 2, this follow-up season is expected to break all the records. We wouldn't expect less from one of Netflix's best shows. Beware: there are major spoilers below for season 2, so make sure you're up to date before you jump in. You can also fill out your watchlist with our guide to this year's biggest upcoming shows.
Squid Game season 3 release date
Squid Game season 3 will be released on June 27, 2025. That's the same as the accidentally leaked date that surfaced earlier in the year.
Surprisingly, this is just a few months after season 2 was released, so there's not long to wait for the return of Netflix's most popular show.
Squid Game season 3 trailer
The final Squid Game season 3 trailer looks back at the previous seasons, remembering the journey of Seong Gi-hun, AKA Player 456, from the financial problems that led him into the games to his return to burn it all to the ground. Will he achieve what he came back for? The trailer reveals there will be a meeting between Gi-hun and the big boss, Front Man, too.
A first full trailer arrived last month at Tudum. This one showed more of the maze game, and it also finally revealed the nature of the game involving the two giant dolls seen in the Squid Game season 2 post-credits scene. But, there's nothing at all on the sixth and final game, though the trailer potentially gives away a finalist... It also seems to confirm that Player 246 survived with help from Guard 011. Check it out below:
Squid Game season 3 plot speculation *SPOILERS*
Thanks to the trailers, we know a team game of some kind is taking place next. At the Next on Netflix event in early 2025, GamesRadar+ was treated to a behind-closed-doors look at this very game.
In the footage we were shown, contestants turn the dial on a prize machine that contains red and blue balls. Intriguingly – and potentially upsettingly – some of the show's core allies receive opposing colors. While Jun-hee (Player 222) draws a red ball, Myung-gi (Player 333) draws blue. Mother and son Jang Geum-ja (Player 149) and Park Yong-sik (Player 007) also draw opposite colours, while Dae-ho (Player 388) draws blue, as does Hyun-ju. Then, Player 456 enters the room, and the others fall silent. Gi-hun draws his own ball – red.
In the trailers, both teams are in what looks to be a maze. Hyun-ju gets into a physical fight with another player, while Dae-ho almost falls from a great height.
Then, next up is a game involving a jump rope, red and green lights, and those two giant dolls, which was first teased in the season 2 post-credits scene. We see a lot of O voters enter the arena, as well as Jun-hee, Myung-gi, and Gi-hun. We have some guaranteed survivors of the fourth game, then.
We've also seen Gi-hun in a tuxedo, suggesting he makes it all the way to the final game (as for what that final game is, it's so far a mystery). Judging by a picture Front Man actor Lee Byung-hun uploaded to his Instagram, we also might be getting a flashback to Hwang In-ho's own time in the games:
Elsewhere in the trailers, the VIPs return, and it looks like Jun-ho finally finds his way to the island, as he can be seen bursting into a white marble room with a gun drawn. It also seems that Park Gyeong-seok survived season 2, judging by a quick glimpse of someone who certainly looks like him in the first teaser.
We also have a new synopsis for the season, courtesy of Netflix: "A failed rebellion, the death of a friend, and a secret betrayal. Picking up in the aftermath of season 2's bloody cliffhanger, the third and final season of Netflix's most popular series finds Gi-hun, AKA Player 456, at his lowest point yet.
"But the Squid Game stops for no one, so Gi-hun will be forced to make some important choices in the face of overwhelming despair as he and the surviving players are thrust into deadlier games that test everyone's resolve. With each round, their choices lead to increasingly grave consequences. Meanwhile, In-ho resumes his role as Front Man to welcome the mysterious VIPs, and his brother Jun-ho continues his search for the elusive island, unaware there's a traitor in their midst. Will Gi-hun make the right decisions, or will Front Man finally break his spirit?"
Intriguingly, at Tudum, Gi-hun actor Lee Jung-jae promised that the show would "shock the world one last time."
Plus, in an interview with Variety, Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk talked about what's next for Gi-hun, saying: "As for the storyline of the third season, Gi-hun having lost everything, including his best friend, and all of his attempts going to failure, it’s now, what is he going to be like? What state is Gi-hun going to be in? And what will he choose to do? Will he continue on with the mission? Is he going to give up or persist? And so you’re going to meet our character Gi-hun at a very critical crossroads as we begin the third season. Gi-hun will not be the man he was in season 2."
One thing feels certain though – the shocking deaths are not over.
Speaking about the show's ending, creator Dong-hyuk shared that he changed his mind over the ending. "Usually when I get to writing a script, I do it where I think of the ending first, and then I try to make the journey, or the path to reach that ending the most entertaining way possible," he said to GamesRadar+ and other media at a roundtable. "But this time around, it was actually different. I started out writing the story thinking of a particular ending, but along the way, I realised that this is not where the story should be headed, so I changed the ending mid-process."
Squid Game season 3 cast
As is expected with Squid Game, there were a lot of deaths in season 2. This means the cast list for season 3 is much smaller than the second outing:
- Lee Jung-jae as Seong Gi-hun
- Wi Ha-joon as Hwang Jun-ho
- Lee Byung-hun as Hwang In-ho/the Front Man
- Park Sung-hoon as Hyun-ju
- Kang Ha-neul as Dae-ho
- Jo Yu-ri as Kim Jun-hee
- Park Gyu-young as No-eul
- Chae Kook-hee as Seon-nyeo
- Lee David as Min-su
- Kang Ae-sim as Jang Geum-ja
- Yang Dong-geun as Park Yong-sik
- Im Si-wan as Lee Myung-gi
- Oh Dal-su as the Captain
- Roh Jae-won as Nam-gyu
Is Squid Game season 3 the final season?
Yes, Squid Game season 3 will be the final season of the Netflix show. Speaking about this decision, creator Dong-hyuk told GamesRadar+ and other media why this is. "When you look at Squid Game at the end of the day, it's really all about Gi-hun's journey. The way he returned and gave up wanting to go see his daughter, returned from the flight and goes back into the game, wanting to put an end to it.
"So, the storylines for seasons 2 and 3 are going to be about his journey and the viewers wanting to know, 'Will he succeed, will he fail?' And at the end of his journey, what would Gi-hun look like? So, at the end of the day, it's really a story told by Gi-hun, and it's a story of Gi-hun and also what changes he goes through as a character through these series of events. So I always thought that it had to be, it had to come to a closure with Gi-hun's story by season 3. I thought that it would be meaningless to tell a story further than that."
Squid Game season 2 is available to stream on Netflix now. For more, check out our Squid Game season 2 review and our Squid Game season 2 ending explained. We've also got guides to the best Netflix movies and the best Netflix horror movies to stream right now.
