Let the games begin! As the world awaits Season 2 of the smash-hit series Squid Game, Netflix has galvanized fans around the globe in anticipation of the new episodes. 

On Dec. 9, the new season had its premiere in Seoul. And another premiere will soon follow, including a not-quite-5K race in Los Angeles on Dec. 12 where fans will compete for a seat at the US screening. It’s all green lights from here — there’s no stopping Squid Game from taking over the world.

“I never imagined that we’d make a second season,” Lee Jung-jae, who plays Gi-hun, said in Seoul. “Developing new stories and writing a full season is a tremendously daunting task, but the script came out unbelievably well … It was so well written that I often thought director Hwang [Dong-hyuk] was a genius, and I told him that, too. … Finally, the day to reveal the show to you is around the corner.”

Christmas comes a day late this year — Season 2 launches Dec. 26, with Season 3 on its heels in 2025. “You have waited so long,” Lee Byung-hun, who portrays Front Man, said to fans at the Seoul premiere. “We worked so hard on set, because we wanted to bring Squid Game to the fans as quickly as we could. I think this story will once again beat your expectations.”

For the Seoul premiere, Netflix took over the city’s neofuturistic Dongdaemun Design Plaza and turned it jumpsuit pink for the 1,000 fans in attendance (the cast and producers arrived on the pink carpet). It wasn’t a mere screening — the event also featured a performance by the dance crew 1MILLION, as well as an experience zone and behind-the-scenes talks, streamed to hundreds of thousands (so far) of viewers around the world.

“I really feel like [I’m] dreaming, flying in the air,” Season 2 cast member Kang Ae-sim said at the party. “I still feel like I’m flying.”

For fans on the ground, the latest episodes will have been worth the wait, the cast promises. Asked to sum up Season 2 in one sentence, they offered lines like “beyond expectations,” “better … than Season 1,” and, simply, “You can’t miss it.” But Kang Ha-neul, who plays Kang Dae-ho, perhaps put it best: “Squid Game Season 2, only on Netflix.”

Watch the Squid Game Season 2 Trailer