By Sagar V. Mankar 
Netflix’s latest venture into mobile gaming has struck gold with “Squid Game: Unleashed,” which has racked up an impressive 10.7 million downloads since its global launch on December 17, 2024, according to AppMagic.
The game’s release was strategically timed to coincide with the highly anticipated second season of the hit TV series.
Breaking Down the Success
The battle royale game, which lets players participate in both familiar challenges from the show and new contests inspired by childhood games, has quickly become one of Netflix’s most successful mobile gaming ventures. It currently stands as the company’s fifth most downloaded mobile game ever, joining an elite list of top performers:
- GTA: San Andreas (33.8 million downloads)
- Storyteller (16.8 million downloads)
- SpongeBob: Get Cooking (11.4 million downloads)
- Bloons TD 6 (11.2 million downloads)
- Squid Game: Unleashed (10.7 million downloads)
The game has found particularly strong success on Apple’s App Store, accumulating 7.4 million downloads compared to 3.3 million on Google Play.
The United States leads in downloads with 1.8 million, followed by Brazil (1.1 million), Mexico (943,000), and India (855,000).
A Different Approach to Access
Unlike other Netflix games that require a subscription, “Squid Game: Unleashed” is temporarily available to all players, marking a departure from the company’s usual gaming strategy. This decision has likely contributed to its rapid adoption, with the game reaching its peak daily downloads of 1.6 million on January 4th, a week after the show’s second season premiere.
Changes at Netflix Gaming
This success comes during a period of significant changes in Netflix’s gaming division. In July, the company welcomed Alain Tascan, former Epic Games EVP of development, as its new gaming president, replacing Mike Verdu, who has moved to lead the company’s GenAI initiatives.
The division has also seen other notable changes, including the departure of VP of external games Leanne Loombe and the closure of its internal triple-A studio, Team Blue.
Additionally, Netflix has adjusted its gaming library, removing GTA 3 and Vice City while retaining San Andreas as the sole representative of the trilogy.
Source: Based on AppMagic data and Pocketgamer.biz