Where was Squid Game: The Challenge shot? Filming locations explored

Squid Game: The Challenge is the newly released reality TV spinoff of Netflix's South Korean show Squid Game. Premiered on November 22, it brought 456 players from across the world to battle it out for the glorious prize fund of $4.56 million. This version has garnered a lot of attention since much before its release, owing to the scale of success with the OG show. The audience has been eager to learn all about its cast, filming location, format, spoilers, and more.

Recreating a set matching the magnitude and size of the original show posed a mammoth task for producers and production designers since the show had a lot of CGI use in their sets. They successfully built an immersive world, creating most of it at Wharf Studios in London, with the Red Light, Green Light challenge taking place at Cardington Studios in Bedford.

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Squid Game: The Challenge was filmed in the UK

The original show, Squid Game, hails from South Korea and has gained incredible traction globally, becoming one of Netflix's biggest and most popular TV series. Fans of the show had been pitching for the next season, but Netflix hit them with something entirely different. The global giant created a reality show, Squid Game: The Challenge, bringing 456 contestants together to compete for $4.56 million.

The original show itself had extensive use of CGI for set creation. But for The Challenge, a massive set was recreated in the UK in two locations, and filming began in January 2023. The main dorm and playing arenas were built at Wharf Studios in London. The studio is located in the Barking area and was large enough to accommodate 456 players, guards, and film crew, owing to its 10-acre land space.

Squid Game: The Challenge creators stated that the players were never let out of the studio during the 16 days of filming. They were only moved from their dorms to the game rooms and back.

"Once players were inside, they never left unless they were eliminated. Players exited the dormitory and passed through the iconic stairwells of Squid Game," Netflix said.

Squid Game: The Challenge creators combined six sound stages with "ceiling heights up to 46 feet." While this area was big enough to accommodate the classic stairwells, game rooms, and 456 bunk beds, it didn't have sufficient space for the Red Light, Green Light competition, which requires the players to run and stop according to when a gigantic doll starts and stops singing.

This part of the competition was filmed at "Europe's largest indoor space," Cardington Studios, which was initially an airplane hangar in the 1920s. The space was later converted into a massive studio space where the playground for this challenge was built. It has an area covering approximately 100,000 square feet.

Netflix also posted a tour of the set with the original show's fan-favorite character, Ali, aka Anupam Tripathi, who gave the audience a sneak peek into the workings of the magnanimous set.

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More about Squid Game: The Challenge

The show gathered players from across the world to compete for $4.56 million and the ultimate title. Nobody is safe, alliances will break, and the intensity will only increase. In the first five episodes, strategic gameplay has taken the forefront, and the competition has whittled down from 456 contestants to a mere 63.

The final five episodes of Squid Game: The Challenge are scheduled to be released on Netflix on November 29, 2023. The last episode ended with a wholesome pair picnic for all the contestants. It quickly turned dangerous when they discovered marbles in their picnic baskets, confirming that the next game, like on the show, would eliminate half the group immediately.