We’re going to go out on a limb and say that nobody, not one person, who watched The Hunger Games or Battle Royale sat back and thought to themselves: ‘Hey, that looked fun. I wish I, too, could partake in a terrifying fight-to-the-death scenario like that.’

It seems the same cannot be said, however, for viewers of Squid Game. On the surface, the smash-hit Korean drama was all cutesy fun, as 456 people came together to play traditional children’s games to win a huge cash prize. As is always the way with any huge cash prize, though, there’s a catch: to lose the game meant… well, it meant death, and usually a horribly violent death at that.

Despite all the candy-coloured gore, the series was hailed for its powerful commentary on socioeconomic divides, the exploitation of the poor by the rich and the desperation of the financially destitute in a never-ending cost of living crisis. 

So, sure, it makes total sense that a new reality series will allow contestants to compete in the games from the OG show (minus the bloodbath) for a prize of $4.56 million (£3.7m).

Watch the trailer for Squid Game: The Challenge below:

Yup, it seems the deadly challenges in Squid Game – once a horrifying parallel of reality – have now been stripped of all meaning and allegory to be repackaged as a fun new game show. Go figure.

According to the Netflix synopsis: “456 real players will enter the competition show in pursuit of a life-changing reward of $4.56 million.

“As they compete through a series of games inspired by the original show – plus surprising new additions – their strategies, alliances and character will be put to the test while competitors are eliminated around them.”

While Squid Game: The Challenge absolutely and wholeheartedly misses the point of the OG series, that doesn’t mean the new series won’t be fun. 

Hell, even Squid Game director Hwang Dong-hyuk has urged people not to take the new reality series “too seriously”.

As per Entertainment Weekly, Hwang acknowledged the concerns people had raised over the reality series being recreated as a competition, noting simply: “I feel like whenever you take things too seriously, that’s really not the best way to go for the entertainment industry. Doesn’t really set a great precedent.”

He also expressed a hope that the reality show’s creators “will be carrying on my vision and intention as much as possible for the show”.

Let’s wait and see what the darkest reality show ever made has in store for us, we guess…

Squid Game: The Challenge will become available for streaming on Wednesday 22 November. 

Images: Netflix