(Bloomberg) — Shares in South Korean companies tied to Netflix Inc.’s blockbuster series Squid Game slumped on Monday following the release of the hit show’s final season, which debuted to a lukewarm audience reception despite topping global streaming charts.
Artist Co., an entertainment agency in which Squid Game’s main actor Lee Jung-jae is the largest shareholder, tanked as much as 21%. Artist Studio Inc., a unit of Artist Co., also declined 24%. Dexter Studios Co., South Korea-based visual effects production firm and one of partners of Squid Game production, fell 8.5%.
“Much of the criticism stems from how the show ended — viewers whose interpretation of the show’s worldview doesn’t align with theirs,” said Kim Hern-sik, a pop culture critic in Seoul. “It’s hard to top Season 1 — it was a global sensation.”
The third season of Netflix’s anti-capitalist parable, which premiered on June 27, topped the global TV show rankings on Netflix in all countries, according to FlixPatrol, which tracks viewing on streaming services. The Season 3 earned 83% approval rating among professional critics while 51% approval rating from audience, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Read: Squid Game’s Final Season Holds a Mirror to Korea’s Woes: Review
First released in 2021, Squid Game became a cultural phenomenon, igniting global conversations with its brutal social allegory and captivating visuals. It remains Netflix’s most-watched show of all time, drawing about 600 million views to date across the first two seasons. The Korean dystopian survival thriller has also won six Emmy Awards.
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