‘Squid Game: The Challenge’ Creators on Criticism: ‘We Were Being Faithful’ to Original

There’s a lot riding on Squid Game: The Challenge. Netflix’s latest reality behemoth follows in the footsteps of Squid Game, one of the streamer’s biggest shows of all time, by bringing the drama series’ competition to life—456 contestants will enter the games with the hopes of winning a life-changing $4.56 million, the largest prize in North American game show history.

The series, was filmed in a mammoth studio in London in January and premieres Nov. 22, has already faced a litany of controversies. Fans of the original show have criticized Netflix for seemingly misunderstanding the entire point of Squid Game, which was that humans shouldn’t have to sacrifice themselves and their morality to earn enough money to live. But Tim Harcourt, an executive producer on Squid Game: The Challenge, says that message was commentary in the drama series alone, and that the reality show is different.

“You could criticize a Star Wars ride as ignoring the fact that Star Wars is an allegory about an uprising over an evil empire. That is one aspect of Star Wars,” Harcourt tells The Daily Beast’s Obsessed over Zoom. “But that doesn't negate the possibility of deriving further [stories] from it.”

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