Playing for Life: The Asian Fusion of Netflix and Nostalgic Gaming

Netflix’s popular series Squid Game (2021 Hwang) from South Korea and Alice in Borderland (2020 Sato) combined the power of “Original” foreign content with America’s love of the horror genre and were big hits. The shows relate to global viewers by appealing to their childhood nostalgic horror through gaming as games and gaming culture are a universal experience. A character’s ability to survive the horror they face requires them to look at their own memories and their personal nostalgia of gaming. Netflix’s ability to use social media near nostalgia and on-demand culture trends allows viewers to have a participatory experience through horror’s design and leads them to continue to binge-watch and participate in the fandoms. This combination has led to the show’s transnational popularity, compelling the production of sequels and a spin-off series.