Most viewers for a Netflix Original debut

In its first month, the Netflix Original series Squid Game (Siren Pictures) was watched by 142 million subscriber households, making it the service's most successful debut. The survival thriller, created by South Korean filmmaker Hwang Dong-hyuk, was released on 17 September 2021 and reached the No.1 position in 97 territories, surpassing period drama Bridgerton as the most popular TV show on the world's most subscribed-to streaming service.

The nine-part Squid Game is described as “an imaginative, unorthodox story in which 456 contestants risk their lives in a mysterious survival game – involving multiple rounds of childhood games – for a chance to win 45.6 billion won [$38.2 million; £28.4 million]." Word of mouth quickly ensured that the show was a success, with Bloomberg News stating in October 2021 that the show had generated nearly $900 million (£668 million) in value for Netflix from a budget of just $21.4 million (£15.9 million).

The viewership figure is based on the number of subscriber accounts that have watched at least two minutes of a show within the first 28 days of its release. The statistic of 111 million households was initially announced by Netflix on Twitter on 12 October 2021 but revised to 142 million in a letter to shareholders on 19 October. This represented two thirds of all Netflix subscribers and over 1.65 billion hours of viewing - a figure that, by mid-November had risen to 2.1 billion hours, or more than 239,700 years!