‘Squid Game’ crosses over to actual video games like ‘Genshin Impact,’ ‘Roblox,’ and more
If you haven’t heard of Squid Game yet, you must be living under a rock. The hit Korean survival drama series has been all over social media since it dropped on Netflix, and is now the streamer’s most-watched show worldwide.
It should be no surprise that the series featuring traditional childhood Korean games has crossed over to actual video game territory.
Netflix, which is amping up its up video game content based on original shows like Stranger Things, has already confirmed they are looking into developing a video game based on the series.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix’s Minyoung Kim, VP of content for Asia Pacific said that they had been getting an “overwhelming but happy volume of requests” from the consumer product department as well as the gaming group, for an actual game for the Squid Game IP.
“We are looking at multiple different areas—from games, consumer product, and others—to really figure out what we can bring to our audiences to increase their affinity towards our content and give them more joy, while staying true to the world that our creator has built,” Kim told THR.
It’s been just a month since the show’s release on Sept. 17, yet fan-created Squid Game adaptations have become the latest viral hit on various gaming platforms.
There are dozens of Squid Game-inspired experiences on the 3D online gaming platform Roblox. Fish Game by Goodjuju, Squid Game by Trendsetter Games, and Hexa Game by @princeelf are just a few of the more well-developed ones with the highest ratings among Roblox players.
Popular survival game Fortnite, which allows 100 players to fight against each other in player versus player combat to be the last one standing, has also gotten its own Squid Game twists and challenges.
PWR’s Squad Game (Island code: 8443-5747-3271) invites players to survive a series of challenging mini-games on the island.
The game features intricate versions of Red Light Green Light, Honeycomb, Tug of War, Marbles, Glass Stepping Stones, and Squid Game, which look pretty faithful to the challenges, with just a little more shooting involved.
The wildly popular series has also made its way to Animal Crossing: New Horizons, with various content creators devising their own Squid Game contests within the game. Content creator Mayor Mori recently showed off Squid Game-inspired landscapes in the Dream Island tour in one video.
YouTube streamer Nikachu also invited players to their island to take part in a series of Animal Crossing minigames, with an impressive 99,000 Bell prize up for grabs.
The Genshin Impact community has also been in the mix with meme collabs that feature popular characters from miHoYo’s ARPG. One video that’s going viral is YouTuber ‘genshashin’s amazing animated ode to what a Squid Game event might look like in Genshin Impact.
The fan-made crossover features character favorites like Diluc, Keqing, Venti, Hu Tao, Ganyu, Jean, Sara and a lot of other playable characters to date from Genshin Impact (Aloy not included) getting eliminated one by one. Klee stands in as the creepy little girl doll in the Red Light, Green Light from the show.
Given his luck, Bennett gets eliminated first, while some characters creatively use their elemental skills to advance in the game. Zhong Li uses a shield, the twins use Geo to block, and Keqing teleports to safety. Check out the well-made animation video below.
Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout might also be getting its own Squid Game minigame in the future. In a recent interview with TechRadar, Fall Guys’ developer, Mediatonic, really planned to include a Red Light, Green Light-inspired mini-game for the massively multiplayer party game, but scrapped the idea.
However, with the recent success of Squid Game, Mediatonic is now reconsidering its inclusion. With the game's colorful aesthetic, it's pretty easy to imagine how it will look.
A whole bunch of casual Squid Game-inspired mobile games have also mushroomed after the series aired, including K-Games Challenge: 456 Survival developed by Supercent Inc., which is available on Google Play and the App Store.
While many of the mobile games don’t feel very polished, those suffering from a Squid Game-hangover looking for something to pass the time can easily try it out themselves.