Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk reveals why he waited a decade to make his passion project

While it has merely been months since fans were blessed with the hit Netflix series Squid Game, its ingenious plotline had been in the making for more than a decade.

Series creator Hwang Dong-hyuk first had the idea back in 2008; however, back then, the survival horror drama was way ahead of its time and not fit for TV channels. But, despite the fact that his dream project may or may not see the light of day in the future, Dong-hyuk never lost hope.

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Dong-hyuk always believed Squid Game would be a success whenever it came out

In a recent chat with The Playlist, Dong-hyuk was questioned about how he remained optimistic that his hard work would bear fruit one day. In response, the Squid Game creator first reminisced about the time he was in the process of fine-tuning the first draft of the show.

“At the time, I knew that it wasn’t fit to become a commercial film for the cinema or a TV series on linear channels, because there were a lot of limitations, whether it was the violence that is depicted or the viewer rating. And so, I felt like, considering the media environment back then, it just wasn’t the right time.”

He continued:

“It would be pushing it a bit too much if I wanted to create it into a linear TV series or a film for the cinema. I think I felt like the story was ahead of our time at that time, and I always had this thought that maybe someday when the time comes, when time goes by and times change, maybe this story, this item will be responded to in a different way.”

He always had “faith in the potential of my idea.” For the next ten years, after he first came up with the story idea, he never looked at it again but maintained “blind faith” in his creation.

Around 2018, he picked up the story again, planning to turn Squid Game into a webtoon series to evaluate people’s reaction to it before pitching it as a live-action project. But fate had other ideas.

In 2018, Netflix had begun to make its presence in Korea felt, and Dong-hyuk thought that the platform could be a good home for his story as it would take it to viewers across the world. It also proved to be the best option as Netflix saved Squid Game from being severely censored, which would have been its fate if Dong-hyuk had opted for a national OTT (over the top) platform or channel.