How Boss Fight brought Squid Game: Unleashed to life

The potential for transmedia success with a strong IP feels infinite. Case in point: In December, Boss Fight, a Netflix Games Studio, released the mobile game Squid Game: Unleashed in advance of the second season of the powerhouse series, and it reached the No.1 Top Free Games spot in 107 countries on the App Store.

This multiplayer party royale offers dynamic, player-driven challenges where alliances, betrayals, and survival instincts are put to the test in ever-changing, high-stakes games inspired by classic childhood activities. Players are invited to immerse themselves in this world and are kept on edge by having to make strategic decisions with psychological depth and potentially dire consequences.

We sat down with Todd Batty, director of game development at Boss Fight, a Netflix Games Studio, to learn how the team took a beloved series known for its tension and excitement and successfully turned it into a thrilling mobile game.

Let’s start from the beginning. How did this project come about?

As soon as Boss Fight became a part of Netflix, we started ideating around what we wanted to make next. We’re all huge supporters of Squid Game and we heard over and over from fans that they all wanted to see what it would be like to try their hand at the infamous squid games.

From that point, there were lots of discussions about how to bring this to life in-game. We were drawn to the party royale genre because it not only allows players to experience Red Light, Green Light, Dalgona, Mingle, and more, but it also gives fans the chance to play with or against their friends as opposed to a single-player narrative game.

When you began developing the game, what was the team hoping to achieve?

Our goal was to build a game that was representative of the Squid Game universe, but in a way that felt fresh and approachable. While the show has a dark, high-stakes atmosphere, we wanted to create a game that kept that competitive energy but was a bit lighter in nature so that people could feel comfortable being immersed in our world for long periods of time. In short, we wanted to make dying… fun!

What were key elements from the television series that had to be included in the game?

The most important aspects to retain were the distinct visual style and the core premise of competing in children’s games with life-or-death consequences. It was important that we put the player into the games as a competitor. These elements define Squid Game at the broadest level and had to be an essential part of the experience.

What steps did you take to incorporate them?

The game was in conceptual development for quite a while before full production began. During that time, we immersed ourselves in the world of Squid Game and spent a lot of time refining both the art direction and gameplay mechanics.

The challenge was to create a game that felt exciting and social while avoiding going too deep into the heavier, more sinister elements of the show. We wanted to strike a balance – keeping enough of Squid Game’s tone to feel authentic while making sure the game could be enjoyed regularly by millions of players.

At Netflix, since we’re making series, films, and games under the same roof, we were able to collaborate with the Squid Game series team earlier in the process than most adaptations are able to. We got scripts early, visited the creative team and sets in Korea, and even tapped into other expansions of the squid universe, like Squid Game: The Challenge. This all resulted in a more authentic experience that could launch right alongside season two of the series for a better fan experience.

Getting deeper into the game’s development, how did the team make the most out of Unity?

Boss Fight has been working with Unity for many years and has a long history of shipping products with it. For this game, we used the Universal Render Pipeline (URP), Shader Graph, and the Cinemachine camera system. There was also ProBuilder for environment prototyping, TextMeshPro for fonts, the Input System for gamepad support, and Timeline for cutscenes and visual effects.

When it came to animation, we connected Playables in data evaluation trees to create level flyovers, and we worked with NVIDIA PhysX to trigger ragdoll physics.

Additionally, using Nested Prefabs and Variants allowed the team to work asynchronously in scenes or other prefabs in our source control. We employed Unity Search for more detailed searches and for finding prefabs that were missing required components or had incorrect tags

For performance optimization, the Adaptive Performance and Quality settings were essential for us to hit device tiers, FPS, and thermal goals. The Frame Debugger helped us find draw calls, sneaky extra cameras, disabled prefab layout objects, and canvas layout and Particle System issues. The Memory Profiler’s snapshot comparison was also very beneficial for finding excessive string and object allocations.

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What were some unexpected lessons learned and opportunities granted during development?

The inclusion of weapons, which is somewhat new to this particular genre, had a more profound impact on gameplay than I think even we expected. Baseball bats led to snowballs and shields, which led to mystery boxes, and ultimately to the ability to goaltend from the Finish area by killing people still trying to finish the game. This all felt particularly relevant and appropriate for a Squid Game recreation.

We were also extremely excited to be able to work in a couple of firsts for Netflix – things that only we can do. We made the game available to everyone for free with no ads or in-app purchases. By removing the need for a Netflix subscription, players were able to invite their friends and express their fandom at the height of the series’ popularity, with or without a membership.

Additionally, since Netflix offers series, films, and games on the same service, we were able to automatically give players in-game rewards for every episode of season two they completed. Within hours of the series debut, we saw fans flaunting their exclusive ‘binge watcher’ skin, indicating they had already watched the show and came back to the game to play.

Now that the game is out, what should fans of the series expect?

We’re all about bringing the high-stakes thrill of Squid Game into a fun, fast-paced, and socially unpredictable experience. Every round should feel intense, forcing players to make split-second decisions in chaotic mini-games.

At the same time, it’s super easy to jump into whether you're a casual player or a hardcore competitor. There’s something for everyone. And the social element? Huge. Alliances will form, trust will be tested, and betrayal is always on the table.

We’re also in it for the long haul – expect new challenges, events, and surprises to keep things fresh and exciting.

Based on the rise of transmedia success, what is your advice for developers looking to turn a television series or movie into a video game?

The key to adapting a video game to any type of IP, from a television series to a sporting league to a movie or comic book, is to figure out what the must-have elements are for the biggest fans of that IP. You need to deliver on those as perfectly as possible and then let everything else go so you still have some room for creative license. If you don’t draw that line with intent somewhere, it will inevitably get drawn for you somewhere unintended when you run out of time.

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