It’s been three years, are you ready to play again?

Squid Game is returning to Netflix for Season 2 on December 26 – a dystopian treat just after Christmas – and the streamer has revealed that its biggest ever show will conclude with its third season.

The second season of the Korean drama series returns with some familiar faces and some new ones and also will return for Season 3 in 2025, marking the end of the smash hit, in scripted form at least. Watch the Season 2 date teaser above.

It comes after Squid Game, which launched on September 17, 2021, became a global phenomenon, clocking over 1.65B viewing hours in 28 days and reaching 111 million accounts, becoming Netflix’s first series to surpass 100 million members at launch.

The second season of the show, which comes from writer, director and exec producer Hwang Dong-hyuk, follows Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) picking up after his “jaw-dropping decisions” at the end of Season 1. It will follow the hero as he abandons his plans to go to the United States. Instead, he begins a chase with an important motive.

If you remember in Season 1 [SPOILER ALERT], Seong Gi-hun was buried in debt when he received an invitation to the games. After winning the game in spectacular fashion, he is determined to make those responsible for the dark and deadly competition pay for their atrocities.

Lee Jung-jae obviously returns as Seong Gi-hun and is joined by the Lee Byung-hun, who plays Front Man, the game’s leader; Wi Ha-jun, who plays Hwang Jun-ho, a detective who sneaks into the game in search of his brother; and Gong Yoo, who plays the Recruiter, who initially invited Gi-hun to play the game.

New players include Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-Neul, Park Sung-hoon and Yang Dong-geun as well as Park Gyu-young, Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Lee Jin-uk, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won and Won Ji-an.

Season 3 is understood to have been filmed back-to-back with Season 2, allowing Netflix to launch it in 2025, a much smaller wait for fans than the three years between the first two seasons.

The series is produced by Firstman Studio with Kim Ji-yeon also exec producing.

“It’s been almost three years since Season 1 was met with incredible response around the world and many unimaginable events took place,” Hwang Dong-hyuk wrote in a letter (see it below). “On the first day we began shooting Season 2, I remember thinking, ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m back in the world of Squid Game.’ It almost felt surreal. I wonder how it will feel for you to be back in Squid Game after three years as well.”

He added, “Seong Gi-hun who vowed revenge at the end of Season 1 returns and joins the game again. Will he succeed in getting his revenge? Front Man doesn’t seem to be an easy opponent this time either. The fierce clash between their two worlds will continue into the series finale with Season 3, which will be brought to you next year. I am thrilled to see that the seed that was planted in creating a new Squid Game grow and bear fruit through the end of this story. We’ll do our best to make sure we bring you yet another thrill ride.”