Squid Game: The Challenge prize fund explained

Netflix’s Squid Game: The Challenge has the biggest prize fund in reality TV show history – here’s how much one lucky player will be taking home.

Squid Game, a maelstrom of social allegory, survival drama, childhood games, and violent brutality, captivated a global audience when it arrived on Netflix in 2021. The series’ explosive popularity is reflected in numbers, as it magnetized an impressive 111 million watchers in its first 28 days, becoming Netflix’s most streamed show ever.

At the time, it might have been hard to imagine such a situation playing out in real life, but now Squid Game: The Challenge is upon us and it’s everything we could have hoped for, with to-scale set pieces and a lot of cash at stake – the key difference being that no one actually dies in this version. 

Before its premiere, the game show already broke a number of records. With 456 players, Squid Game: The Challenge is said to have the largest cast in Netflix’s reality TV history, and the same goes for the massive cash prize. So, here’s how much money the winner will take home. 

Squid Game: The Challenge prize fund explained

The winner of Squid Game: The Challenge will be taking home a whopping $4.56 million – Netflix’s largest cash prize in reality television history.

Much like Squid Game, a giant piggy bank is kept suspended in the dormitory where all of the players stay. It starts off empty, with $10,000 dollars added to the piggy bank for every player who gets eliminated. 

Ultimately, this figure will continue to go up as and when contestants don’t pass a game or test, culminating in the eye-watering $4.56 million prize. Although this is yet to be confirmed, we can assume that a final $10,000 is added for the winner, as there are 456 players overall. 

It’s worth pointing out that the final figure isn’t quite as much as Squid Game, which was 4.56 billion won, equal to approximately $38.5 million – but it’s still an unprecedented amount. With so much at stake, it’s no wonder players will do anything they can to make it to the next round. 

Squid Game: The Challenge Episodes 1-9 are available to stream on Netflix now, with the finale dropping next week. You can check out our other coverage below:

• Squid Game: The Challenge all eliminations so far
• Squid Game: The Challenge games and rules
• Squid Game: The Challenge filming locations
• Squid Game: The Challenge reviews
• Is Squid Game: The Challenge real?
• How are players eliminated?
• Why Player 299 joined the show
• Players allegedly asked to “pretend” to compete
• Squid Game: The Challenge player details set conditions
• Squid Game: The Challenge producers hit back
• Squid Game: The Challenge contestants threaten lawsuit
• Squid Game: The Challenge receives audience backlash