Squid Game Becomes Netflix's New Number 001

111 million Netflix accounts streamed at least two minutes of Squid Game in the last 27 days according to the tech giant's Twitter account. This announcement follows one of the rare instances of Netflix publishing viewership data on their original shows at Vox Media's Code Conference in September. As our chart shows, the competition is lagging behind considerably.

The former top show now bumped down to second place with 82 million accounts is season one of Bridgerton, the regency-era period drama showcasing an alternate history where people of color are fully integrated into society. Tiger King, the documentary that became a viral hit during the first coronavirus lockdown, sits at eighth place behind Netflix mainstays Money Heist and Stranger Things with their fourth and third seasons, respectively. Both seasons rank considerably higher in terms of viewing hours though, with Money Heist coming in second at 619 million and Stranger Things taking third place with 582 million hours.

The success of the serialized thriller critiquing capitalist society can at least partly be explained by Netflix's continued investment in the growing South Korean market which produced roughly five percent of all Netflix Originals available worldwide in 2019. Up until now, the video streaming service has created more than 70 original shows in the Asian country and plans to have invested a total of $1.2 billion by the end of the year.