In the Squid Game Season 3 finale, the competition’s host, Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), enacts evacuation protocols. As the pink guards flee the control room — and, eventually, the island itself — the words “Game over” begin to flash on the command center’s many screens. The same sentiment applies to Squid Game itself. Season 3, Episode 6 is the planned series finale; Squid Game will not return for Season 4. 

Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk confirmed this decision with a letter to fans (seen below) last July. In the note, he announced that Season 3 would be Squid Game’s final season and that the series finale would air in 2025. “I am thrilled to see the seed that was planted in creating a new Squid Game grow and bear fruit through the end of this story,” he wrote at the time. As viewers devour Squid Game’s last six episodes (now streaming), they’re enjoying Hwang’s carefully prepared harvest. The director tells Tudum that he created Squid Game’s goodbye season to give fans the resounding closure they deserve. 

Initially, Hwang didn’t plan for the thriller’s protagonist Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) to die in Season 3. “But as I began to write and develop the storylines for Seasons 2 and 3, I realized I needed a resolution that would bring both the game and Gi-hun’s journey to a close,” he explains. “I need to wrap up Gi-hun’s journey and convey a message to the audience right now. The message I wanted to communicate was that if we solely pursue our immediate self-interest, and refuse to self-restrain, sacrifice, or bear any costs, and if we don’t put our heads together, we have no future.” 

Hwang depicted that final message through the “meaningful” and poignant series finale, which reveals the winners, losers, and survivors of Squid Game. Looking back, he’s proud of what he built. 

“Creating 22 episodes was a tough journey, so I feel bittersweet now that it’s over,” Hwang says. He’ll miss the sets — “the dorm with the towering bunk beds that always made me nervous, the maze-like stairs where I kept getting lost on my way to give directions to the cast, and the game arenas that I was genuinely sad to dismantle after filming” — and his cast, along with all the crew members who made the series possible. Hwang will even miss the “exhaustion” that comes with long days on set. But, more than anything, the director will miss the “memories” the entire team created together. 

“At the bottom of it all is the joy we felt as we made something together,” Hwang says. “The moments when I thought, ‘What I had envisioned in my head is actually materializing right in front of me.’ Seeing scenes come to life — even better than I imagined — was deeply moving. I’ll miss and hold onto that feeling for a long time.” 

Relive all the emotions of Squid Game now, by rewatching the complete series — now on Netflix. And keep coming back to Tudum for more scoops from inside the game. 

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