Netflix Looking To Expand Squid Game Into Video Games

Squid Game on Netflix is undeniably popular. So much so that a South Korean ISP sued the streaming service for its overwhelming network usage. But it’s the same kind of popularity that has convinced the streaming service that the show should not remain just as a TV series.

Minyoung Kim, VP of content for Asia at Netflix, told The Hollywood Reporter that the company is looking to expand Squid Game to “games, consumer products, and others”. She notes that there has been “an overwhelming but happy volume of requests” to do so.

The video games side of things make sense, but it’s unclear what sort of direction that Netflix wants to take Squid Game into. The company’s previous dabbling in the field produced a couple of games based on the Stranger Things series. But beyond that, the company has just resorted to including selected paid mobile games into the package for subscribers. And that’s only available in three countries in Europe for now.

Another Netflix show comes to mind if the streaming service wants to add interactivity to Squid Game, and that’s Black Mirror Bandersnatch. Which can work, depending on the amount of context that gets lost in translation, like many video games from Japan.

South Korean ISP Sues Netflix After Traffic Surge From Squid Game And Other Shows

Squid Game, a South Korean produced Netflix original, is probably the most widely talked about TV show as of late. So much so that it has garnered a high number of views worldwide, which earned it the number 1 spot of being the current most popular title on the streaming service across 90 countries – including Malaysia.

Naturally, its popularity also surged in its home turf of South Korea, which resulted in a huge spike in local network traffic. While the influx of viewership may have placed a wide smile on Netflix’s face, the same can’t be said for South Korean internet service provider SK Broadband. 

According to Reuters, the local ISP has sued the streaming service to pay for the costs from increased network traffic and maintenance work caused by the spike, as well as to pay for using its dedicated line since 2018. For context, Netflix is the second-largest data traffic generator in the country – with the first being Google’s YouTube platform.

SK Broadband says that unlike other content providers such as Amazon, Apple and Facebook, both aforementioned platforms are not paying for network usage fees – although, the reason behind this is not stated. It added that Netflix’s data traffic, which it has been handling since May 2018, jumped 24 times to a staggering 1.2 billion bits of data processed per second as of September this year. It says that this surge has been riding on the success of several local Netflix productions, with the most recent being Squid Game and a K-drama known as D.P. 

The lawsuit comes after Seoul Central District Court’s ruling against Netflix back in June this year. The court stated that the ISP is offering “a service provided at a cost” and it is “reasonable” for Netflix to be “obligated to provide something in return” for the service. According to court documents seen by Reuters, SK Broadband estimated the network usage fee the streaming service needed to pay in 2020 alone is about KRW 27.2 billion (RM 95.7 million).

On the other hand, Reuters says that Netflix has appealed against the ruling, with fresh proceedings to start in late December. The streaming service had also recently issued a statement saying that it contributed to the creation of about 16,000 jobs in South Korea – stemming from about KRW 770 billion in investments and an economic effect of about KRW 5.6 trillion. At the same time, it noted that it will review SK Broadband’s claim, as well as to discuss and explore ways to work with the ISP to ensure customers are not affected.

Netflix Begins Crackdown On Non-Same Household Account Sharing

Netflix users who are sharing a single account but are staying apart from each other will find it difficult to enjoy shows offered by the service soon enough. First discovered by The Streamable, the service has recently begun asking users to verify their identity if it detects that they are not in the same household as the main account holder.

The news outlet added that Netflix is rolling out this new restriction as a test at this current time and is mainly affecting users on TV devices. “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorised to do so,” elaborated a company spokesperson to The Streamable. According to Netflix’s current terms of use, its service and content are for personal and non-commercial use, and may not be shared with individuals beyond a user’s household.

Affected individuals will be prompted with the message, “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching”. Along with this message is a button that will direct the user to a registration page for a new Netflix account. Alternatively, the user can verify their identity during this prompt by submitting a verification code that is sent to the account’s corresponding email address or phone number. Neither Netflix nor The Streamable revealed what would happen if the user chooses to ignore the prompt or delay the verification request.

Prior to this, Netflix’s only measure of policing account sharing is by setting a limit to the number of devices per account that are allowed simultaneous access to its services. It is not known when the streaming service will fully implement this new restriction or if it plans to add other types of devices (i.e. PCs or smartphones) to the list.

Dota Now Has Its Own Anime Series: Coming To Netflix This March

Over the years, the popular multiplayer online battle arena Dota 2 by Valve has been making histories in so many ways. From having millions of players throughout the world to tournaments that offer millions of dollars of cash prize pool, the game now even has its own anime.

Called Dota: Dragon’s Blood, the new series will be making its way to Netflix in Malaysia on 25 March 2021. Here is the synopsis of the series, as provided by the streaming service:

“The sweeping fantasy series tells the story of Davion, a renowned Dragon Knight devoted to wiping the scourge from the face of the world. Following encounters with a powerful, ancient eldwurm as well as the noble Princess Mirana on a secret mission of her own, Davion becomes embroiled in events much larger than he could have ever imagined.”

The new series is under the responsibility of Ashley Edward Miller as its showrunner and has previously co-written the screenplay for Thor as well as X-Men: First Class. In terms of the animation, it is being done by the well-known South Korean outfit, Studio Mir which is well-known for its work on The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defender.

In fact, Ryu Ki Hyun who actually worked on both series will be involved in Dota: Dragon’s Blood too as its Co-Executive Producer. Netflix stated that the series will have eight episodes in total, so do look out for them on the service this coming March.

Netflix Has Nothing to Say After Three Men from ‘Cheer’ Arrested for Sex Crimes Against Minors

Netflix has a problem.

Last year the streaming service found itself a hit with Cheer, which followed Navarro College’s elite cheer team as they trained for the National Cheerleading Association’s championship competition, which sees hundreds of college teams flocking to Daytona Beach for the annual event.


Known nationally as a powerhouse team led by coach Monica Aldama, the cheerleaders attend the small junior college in the sleepy rural town of Corsicana, Texas. The docuseries highlights the athletes’ various heart-touching backstories as they practice day and night, risking breaking limbs as they back-handspring, jump, and perform gravity-defying stunts in order to bring home the coveted championship trophy.

It didn’t take long for cheerleader Jerry Harris to emerge as a breakout star. The always positive 21-year-old became beloved for his inspirational mat talks, leading viewers to root throughout the series for him to make it “on the mat” for the big competition.

He seemed poised for a smooth transition to become a fixture on TV screens. Ellen DeGeneres tapped him to interview celebrities on the red carpet during the Academy Awards for her show and Oprah brought him out during her stop in Dallas for her 2020 Vision tour. He appeared on morning shows and was beginning to land sponsored deals, leading him to announce he was moving into his own place.

But everything unraveled when Harris was arrested in September for production of child pornography, allegedly "enticing” a minor, who was 13 at the time, “to produce sexually explicit videos and photos of himself,” according to federal prosecutors in Chicago.

Harris allegedly admitted to officials he solicited nude photos over Snapchat from up to 15 minors. He also is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old during a cheerleading event in 2019, according to the criminal complaint. It notes Harris first began talking to the boy on Snapchat when the minor was 13.

Harris was hit with fresh charges in December from a seven-count indictment, accusing him of receiving and attempting to receive child pornography, as well as persuading a minor “to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual depiction of such conduct, and … transmitting a live visual depiction of such conduct.”

The new charges included five minors from Texas, Illinois, and Florida. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. His lawyer did not respond to request for comment by the time of publishing.

Harris has remained in jail since his initial arrest and Netflix has issued only one statement on the matter. "Like everyone we are shocked by this news. Any abuse of minors is a terrible crime, and we respect the legal process,” a spokesperson said.

Now, two more men who appeared on Cheer have been arrested on separate charges related to sexual abuse of minors.

Mitchell Ryan, who was a member of Navarro College’s cheer team and is seen on the show, was arrested on Wednesday for aggravated sexual assault of a child stemming from an incident in July 2020, according to the Dallas County Sheriff’s records.

The 23-year-old had his bond set at $50,000 and was released on Friday morning. Ryan had worked at Cheer Athletics, a gym in Plano, Texas, which released a statement that said it first learned of the allegations last year and immediately terminated its relationship with Ryan and alerted the local authorities.

His lawyer Jeremy Rosenthal told the Dallas Morning News the charges have been an “extremely hard challenge for Mitch and his family. Very nightmarish.”

“We want to get this over with because I think at the end, he’ll be cleared on this,” he added. Rosenthal did not respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment by the time of publication.

On the same day, Robert Joseph Scianna Jr. was arrested in Chesterfield County in Virginia, and charged with taking indecent liberties with a child and use of an electronic communication device to solicit sex, according to a press release from the local police department.

Scianna is a coach and choreographer and appeared in one episode of Cheer for a late-night photoshoot with close friend and Navarro College cheerleader Gabi Butler, who has 1.6 million followers on Instagram. Scianna is not a part of Navarro College’s cheer team.

Officials claim the 25-year-old met a “juvenile male through a social media platform and arranged to meet the juvenile for sex.” He is being held without bail and it’s not clear if he has representation yet.

Over the summer, Scianna was invited to be a guest VIP for a week at the famed Pennsylvania training center Woodward for a cheerleading camp.

After the news of his arrest, the camp swiftly put out a statement, saying it was “shocked and appalled” at the allegations. It noted Scianna didn’t have “any direct coaching responsibility or supervision of the campers” over the summer.

So far, the Pennsylvania cheer camp and Texas cheer club are the only organizations that have addressed the allegations surrounding Scianna and Ryan.

Netflix To Shut Down Service On Nintendo Wii U And 3DS On 30 June; Still Not Available On Switch

Netflix has announced that it will to provide its services on for two of Nintendo’s older consoles: the Wii U and 3DS. Come 30 June 2021, the app will no longer be available on the Nintendo eShop for both consoles, and new users will not be able to download them if they joined after 31 December 2020.

The practice of rescinding support of its app from older and outdated devices and hardware is not uncommon, but Netflix’s actions serve as a reminder that more than three years since its release, the app is still nowhere to be seen on the Nintendo Switch.

It’s a small, yet important point to take heed of, especially since it was Reggie-Fils-Aime, then COO of Nintendo America, made a promise at the launch of the Switch that apps for Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu, will “come in time”. Of the three, only Hulu is available, along with the anime streaming service, Funimation.

To reiterate, if you’re one of a few individuals who actually watch Netflix via your Wii U or 3DS, you have until 30 June to stream content to the consoles. After which, you will be forced to seek alternative streaming options. Options that include, say…your smartphone, PC, and laptop.

The Elder Scrolls To Get A Netflix TV Series Adaptation

We’ve seen a fair share of video game titles slated for a Netflix adaptation. Most recently, Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls series has been rumoured to be joining the list of titles to be adapted. Other names in the list includes the likes of Assassin’s Creed, Resident Evil, and even Splinter Cell.

TV and film industry insider Daniel Richtman claims that Netflix wants the new adaptation to be just as popular than The Witcher, if not more so. That said, neither Bethesda nor Netflix has said anything regarding this in an official manner just yet.

In terms of story material, Netflix definitely has more than enough to work with. After all, the series already spans five main entries and an MMO. While the series will unlikely share the plot with the games, that’s still five provinces full of material to draw from. Well, nine if you include the others not in mainline games yet.

On one hand, this is good for fans of The Elder Scrolls series who are already subscribed to Netflix. But on the other, Bethesda already has a deal with Amazon to do a Fallout TV series. And that project has Todd Howard at the helm.

Netflix Gets A Podcast-Like Audio-Only Mode On Android

For an app like Netflix, among the last things you’d want to do with it is to turn the video off and only listen to the audio. But that’s what the company is allowing users to do now, at least on Android.

Android Police reports that a number of users are starting to get the feature, as part of a Netflix server-side update. To find out if you’re one of the lucky ones, you’ll see a “Video Off” button once you put a video into fullscreen mode. Tapping it kills the video but leaves just about everything else on screen. This includes the option to turn on subtitles if they are available.

There will also be an “Audio Only” set of options in the settings menu. Here, you get to choose when you want to use the mode. Three options are available, which are Always On, Headphones or External Speakers, or Off.

The only way this is in anyway practical for Netflix is for standup comedy videos. But even then, some comedians do make use of gestures and facial expressions as part of their act, which you’ll miss if you use this. Some other shows may work if they’re inherently radio-like, but you risk missing out on small but equally important visual cues.

As mentioned, Netflix is rolling out this feature with a server-side update. So it may take awhile before you see it on your Android app. No word on when it will also apply to iOS.