Netflix’s ‘Squid Game’ Replacement Officially Scores 2026 Release Date

59 minutes ago 14

Published Sep 23, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT

Erielle Sudario is a Collider News and Feature Author from Australia and has worked in the journalism industry since 2018. She has a passion for entertainment and pop culture news and has interviewed YouTubers, voice actors, film directors, and musicians throughout her career. When she's not writing, you can see Erielle building keyboards, reading a good book, playing video games, and creating content on social media.

Squid Game and Alice in Borderland became massive Netflix hits upon release. Both shows told a story of players competing in life-and-death games disguised as simple challenges. Now that these titles have confirmed they won't be moving forward with another installment, a brand-new title with a similar premise has been revealed and could become the next viral sensation.

Alice in Borderlands has run for three seasons since it debuted in 2020. The series is loosely based on Alice in Wonderland, where the main protagonist, Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), enters the Borderlands with his friends and must win numerous games to survive. A year later, Netflix released Squid Game, a South Korean thriller that follows Seong Gi-Hun (Lee Jung-Jae), who signs up to participate in the Squid Game, a life-or-death competition where the sole winner wins ₩45.6 billion. In Season 2 and 3, he has returned to the games to get revenge on the Front Man (Lee Byung-hun), the person running the games. Both became very popular on Netflix because they captured audiences and told a story where children's games could be deadly.

Unfortunately, neither show will move forward after its Season 3 finale despite its success. Netflix has scrapped a U.S. spin-off of Squid Game, and it has confirmed that Alice in Borderland won't get a 4th season. But a new show is coming out next month that could replace both.

Netflix has released a teaser trailer for its upcoming series, Quiztopia, scheduled to come out later this year. The trailer shows Japanese citizens excited for another round of Quiztopia, a game show that rules over Japan. Hundreds of contestants are willing to participate, even if it means risking their lives. Even the advertisements in Quiztopia could change the lives of everyday citizens who don't participate in the games. But unlike other dystopias where the games instill fear in citizens, the people in Japan don't seem afraid of this game show ruling the country.

Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend? Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun

Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.

🧢Dustin(Stranger Things)

🗼Emily(Emily in Paris)

🕷️Wednesday(Wednesday)

🟢Gi-hun(Squid Game)

FIND YOUR BEST FRIEND →

How do you usually end up making a new friend? The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.

AWe got loud about the same obsession and never stopped. BThey invited me somewhere before we had properly met. CWe bonded over disliking exactly the same thing. DThey noticed I was struggling and stayed with me.

NEXT QUESTION →

What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend? Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.

AA ridiculous plan neither of us should attempt. BSomewhere new, photographed heavily, ending very late. CSomewhere quiet, few people, zero small talk. DSomething simple, and a conversation that actually matters.

NEXT QUESTION →

You call them at two in the morning. What happens? This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.

AThey are already putting their shoes on. BThey answer instantly and turn it into a plan. CThey answer and say something unflattering and true. DThey listen for an hour and never check the time.

NEXT QUESTION →

What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong? The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.

ASupport first. We can review the mistake later. BA relentlessly positive reframe of the entire disaster. CThe blunt version. Do not soften it for me. DPatience, and no judgment about how I got here.

NEXT QUESTION →

What do your friends actually value about you? The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.

AI am all in, always, about everything. BI can turn almost any situation into a good time. CI say the thing nobody else in the room will. DI look after whoever is having the worst day.

NEXT QUESTION →

You have a falling out. How does it go? How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.

ALoudly, briefly, then back to normal by Tuesday. BThey apologise first, enthusiastically, with a gift. CCold silence, then one dry joke that fixes everything. DWe talk until we both understand what actually happened.

NEXT QUESTION →

What do you actually need a best friend for? Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.

ATo make my life bigger than it would be alone. BTo push me out of the house and into my own life. CTo catch me when I start lying to myself. DTo be the person who never gave up on me.

NEXT QUESTION →

Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.

AWe would still drop everything for each other, instantly. BWe still make plans, and we still actually go. CWe still cut through each other's nonsense in one sentence. DThey stood by me once when it cost them something.

REVEAL MY BEST FRIEND →

The Group Chat Has Spoken Your Best Friend Is…

Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your life would be like.

Dustin Henderson

You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he. What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the plan.

Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: loyal past the point of sense, enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind.
You have the same instinct. Your friendships are loud, specific and slightly ridiculous, and they last for decades because of it.
He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously, which is far rarer than it sounds.
You would have a group chat. It would never once be quiet.

Emily Cooper

You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she. Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with yourselves.

Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion, which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy levels.
You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when something was happening somewhere else.
She is far more loyal than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly, publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts.
She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very good photo.

Wednesday Addams

You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this list.

Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the rare ones count for an enormous amount.
You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally incapable of offering you anything else.
Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a performance out of caring.
Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.

Seong Gi-hun

You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.

Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself.
You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long after anybody would blame you for leaving.
He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes back and tries again, which is more than most manage.
He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

What Is 'Quiztopia' About?

Quiztopia is an upcoming live-action Japanese series based on Reiichi Sugimoto's manga of the same name. The series takes place in an alternate version of Japan, where a national quiz show called Quiztopia rules the country. Contestants who survive Quiztopia are granted any wish by the government, from wealth to fame, and even owning a national landmark. Audiences watch Quiztopia for entertainment rather than fear, but a group plans to end the games for good. This eight-episode show will star Takayuki Yamada (Last Samurai Standing) as Quiztopia's host, KK, and also appearing in the show are Riko Ishida, Kana Kurashina (Oshi no Ko live-action), Kôji Seto (Kamen Rider Kiva), Masahiro Takashima (Godzilla vs. Destoroyah), Renji Ishibashi (Kamen Rider Decade), Eiko Koike, and Shoko Kamijo.

Quiztopia will premiere on Netflix on December 17, 2026. Follow Collider for more updates. You can watch the trailer above.