If you’ve seen Squid Game on Netflix, it’s easy to wonder if the deadly competition comes from a true story. The short answer: Squid Game is not real, and the series is not based on an actual death game. Creator Hwang Dong-hyuk pulled from Korean children’s games, economic anxiety, debt, and survival fiction to build Netflix’s viral hit.

That mix is exactly why the question keeps following the show around. Did Hwang stumble onto something sinister enough to turn into a drama? Are there real-life people who have experienced a version of the Squid Game? Here’s what inspired the Netflix series, what is pure fiction, and how Squid Game: The Challenge turned the concept into a safe reality show.

Squid Game Origins

The concept for Squid Game was thought up in 2008 when Hwang, an ordinary middle-class person, came up with the idea during one of his frequent comic store visits. Initially, he wanted to make a movie; however, it was rejected for being too violent and unrealistic.

When Hwang developed the idea of the Squid Game, he considered creating a competition with deadly stakes. He wanted the audience to focus on character development instead of getting caught up in complicated, technical game rules.

Influence of Battle Royale Games and Japanese Manga

Hwang drew great inspiration from comic books, specifically the 1999 novel Battle Royale and Kaji, a 1996 manga about individuals deep in debt who participate in life-threatening games to become financially free.

However, while Hwang relied on Japanese comics for influence, he wanted to ensure his idea was uniquely Korean. He also incorporated Korean children’s games, thinking this would set his concept apart from other survival competition stories. As a result, Korea was the perfect launching pad for the show when Netflix released it a decade later.

Real-World Influence in Squid Game

While the fatalistic side of the survival game Squid Game is fictional for apparent reasons, the show still takes its influence from authentic Korean social and cultural elements, like kids’ games and modern capitalist society, mirroring the extreme competition of life. For example, the first game in the series is a deadly version of “Mugunghwa,” Korea’s take on Red Light, Green Light, which features Korea’s national flower. The show also includes “ddakji,” a Korean paper-tile flipping game that can be compared to the American Pog.

Many of the show’s dark themes are influenced by the real-life debt crisis of 2008, which had a worldwide effect. Household debt in Korea increased to more than 100% of GDP, the highest in Asia, putting many at the bottom of the economic ladder. This desperate situation was the heartfelt inspiration for why Hwang’s characters decided to participate in the Squid Game in the first place.

Debunking Common Internet Myths

As Squid Game became increasingly popular, the internet did what it does best—created conspiracies around it. One of the biggest myths circulating the internet is that Squid Games are based on real death games.

A viral TikTok post with more than 17,000 shares and 50,000 likes has falsely claimed that people in financial straits (or hostages?) were forced to compete against one another in a deadly competition in a concentration camp-esque bunker underground. No evidence supports this, although it’s an interesting idea, and you can see why someone would start a rumor like this – and why many viewers believe it. 

Another rumor is that Hwang got his idea for the deadly games from a detention facility called Brothers Home (Hyungje Bokjiwon) in South Korea. The facility ran from 1975 to 1986 and, at this time, had 40,000 inmates and 657 deaths. However, Hwang has never mentioned this as inspiration for his show in any interviews.

Squid Game: The Challenge

Thanks to the show’s overwhelming popularity, Netflix decided to take a risk and make it a reality. The result was the streaming service’s most ambitious London-based competition yet, where the cast consisted of 456 contestants competing for a tempting prize of $4.5 million.

There were some notable differences between the original show and Squid Game: The Challenge. For example, players wore ink-filled vests that exploded when eliminated from the competition instead of literally being killed off.

Netflix has also replaced some games from the original show with others, such as “Warships.” Lastly, the show heavily emphasized building alliances and using social strategy to gain advantage. Many critics thought that The Challenge was too far removed from the original TV show and missed the social commentary that Hwang was trying to portray.

Is Squid Game Real?

So, at this point, we believe we’ve answered the million-dollar question: Is Squid Game real? While it might represent some heavier topics in society and, thanks to its violent nature, have you turning away at times, thankfully, Squid Game is not a true story and didn’t draw inspiration from real-life events.

The show expertly combines traditional Korean children’s games with serious social issues, specifically the everyday problems of household debt and the desperation of economic inequality. While several rumors have circulated online, there’s no evidence to back them up. Squid Game is just a show—and a truly captivating one, at that.