'Squid Game' garners 17 bn YouTube views, eclipses 'Game of Thrones'

Netflix's South Korean sensation 'Squid Game' has eclipsed HBO's juggernaut 'Game of Thrones' on YouTube, attracting a staggering 17 billion views across a spectrum of long- and short-form videos, according to the content analytics firm Vobile.

The viewership comes from numerous types of video content, including official trailers and clips from the series, fan recreations of iconic moments, real-world challenges inspired by the plot, and even narration of user-generated video games based on the property (found on services like Roblox), reports 'Variety'.

"In 10 years looking at YouTube, we've never seen anything quite like this," Jared Naylor, Vobile's vice president for audience development, told 'Variety'. The company identifies and analyses how intellectual property is shared and co-opted in the digital space.

Vobile estimates that the 17 billion views have come from 129,000 uploaded videos, including traditional long-form YouTube clips and their recently-launched TikTok competitor YouTube Shorts. Those videos also count 533 million engagements (likes, dislikes and comments).

Compared with these phenomenal numbers, 'Game of Thrones', which had a decade to amass its fan army as opposed to the roughly eight weeks 'Squid Game' has been in play, attracted 16.9 billion views from 420,000 uploaded videos, and an estimated 233 million engagements.