Top

How Squid Game 2 teamed up with tech for success

Since its return on 26 December, Netflix’s blockbuster series Squid Game 2 has garnered another tremendous commercial success through the second season. Within the first day of the release, the season topped the streaming giant’s Global Non-English TV chart, and as of 12 January, it has garnered more than 26.3 million views around the world.

In addition to the intriguing storyline and the cliffhanger at the end, the series showcased various aspects of technology in the process of making it and its marketing promotions, partnering with powerful tech brands.

Cutting-edge technologies from Squid Game

Of all the games featured in the viral programme, “Red Light, Green Light” seems to rely on technology the most. Young-hee, a robot that looks like a young girl, is equipped with motion detection and face identification technologies to identify players who lost in the game. 

However, it’s not real. The original series combined the doll-like robot with computer graphics to make it seem like an operational robot on screen. However, Netflix’s reality show Squid Game: The Challenge recreated the 4.2-metre-tall robot to act the same way as it would in the series, which reportedly took more than three months.

Joining hands with Global Tech Brands

The eerie survival drama partnered with big tech brands before and after its release, broadening its viewership reach. Google was one, which rolled out an easter egg, a mysterious invitation name card with the series’ symbols written on it, which pops up when users type “Squid Game” or “Squid Game Season 2” in the search bar.

Squid Game 2
Screen capture of the search result of “Squid Game” on Google

Squid Game 2

If users tap, they enter a game of “Red Light, Green Light”, where the player’s goal is to have six contestants cross a finish line without being caught by Young-hee, the robotic doll, just by using “Go” and “Stop” buttons at the bottom.

Call of Duty, Activision’s first-person shooting game, introduced new modes and collaborated with Squid Game in early January 2025. Besides wearable items inspired by the series, such as a green tracksuit, it also rolled out a Squid Game Event Pass for all players, which gives Squid Game-themed rewards. In-game features also take inspiration from the series, such as “Red Light, Green Light Scorestreak”, which can stop enemies from moving when enabled.

Duolingo, a language learning app, launched an active marketing operation with Squid Game to help users learn Korean before the worldwide premiere of the second season.

Besides its fun YouTube music video, in which the infamous “Duolingo Bird” in the pink soldier suit dances to the track “Korean or Get Eaten,” the app introduced a Squid Game-inspired TikTok filter. On the language learning app itself, users can find 40 keywords and phrases from the series, such as “dalgona” (which means “honeycomb crackers” in Korean), integrated with the app.

How Squid Game 2 teamed up with tech for success
The thumbnail image of Squid Game: Virtuals

For gamers and VR aficionados, Netflix and Sandbox VR have showcased “Squid Game: Virtuals,” a VR adaptation of the series, in December 2024 in Austin, Texas, United States.

A group of players get together with VR goggles to be part of the same digital world that takes inspiration from Squid Game. From conducting immersive challenges to setting up strategic co-op alliances, players are invited to have a more engaging experience of in-show games through high-resolution displays and low-latency motion tracking technologies.

Sunny Um is a Seoul-based journalist working with 4i Magazine. She writes and talks about policies, business updates, and social issues around the Korean tech industry. She is best known for in-depth explanations of local issues for readers who need a better understanding of the Korean context. Sunny’s works appeared in prominent Korean news outlets, such as the Korea Times and Wired Korea. She currently makes regular writing contributions to newsrooms worldwide, such as Maritime Fairtrade, a non-profit media organization based in Singapore. She also works as a content strategist at 1021 Creative. A person who holds a Master’s degree in Political Economy from King’s College London, she loves to follow up on news of Korean politics and economy when she’s not writing.