Warning: SPOILERS for Squid Game.
Only one player emerges victorious at the end of Squid Game, but could multiple players have won the prize money? Netflix’s Squid Game follows Seong Gi-hun as he is recruited to play in a brutal event of death games in which the winner receives 45.6 billion Won. Every single player was recruited based on their level of desperation for money, with many like Sang-woo owing millions of dollars or facing death if they can’t pay back their debts.
The players go through a series of children’s games in which they have to win all 6 games in order to go home with the prize money. Once the first game of Red Light, Green Light begins, players are surprised to find out that breaking the rules or losing doesn’t mean going home, it means death. The majority of the players, including the Old Man, vote no in episode 2 when deciding if the games should continue, which temporarily sends them home. The players return and play a total of 5 more games that cause the deaths of all but one player, Gi-hun, who goes home with severe trauma and billions of Won.
Along the way, some players made alliances in which they hoped to be standing together in Squid Game’s final challenge and share the prize money. This never happens, as the final game is one-on-one between Gi-hun and Sang-woo, and there had to be a winner. Since only one player won the entire event, it was ambiguous as to whether more than one contestant really could have won and shared the prize money. When looking back at the rules given by Squid Game’s staff to determine how players can win the entire game, there’s no disclaimer that only one player can be declared the winner. If Sae-byeok had survived the night before the final Squid Game match, it’s possible she and Gi-hun could have played on a team against Sang-woo and won the game together - unless it needed to be even teams like in marbles.
In Squid Game episode 1 when the staff first comes in to welcome the players, one of the square-shaped staff states, “those who win all six games will receive a handsome cash prize,” implying it’s possible for more than one player to bring it home. At the same time, it’s likely the Front Man, the Old Man (revealed to run the game), and the VIPs would never let that happen. They make bets on who will win and lose and have fun when there is as much carnage as possible, and the Front Man wouldn’t like to disappoint their sadistic benefactors with a boring, multi-winner Squid Game ending. The rules technically imply that Squid Game isn’t battle royal style where the last person standing wins, but it’s never explicitly stated or enacted.
Additionally, it’s suggested that the previous Squid Game dating back to 1988 only had one winner, with Jun-ho discovering his brother, now identified as the Front Man, was the winner back in the 2015 games. Squid Game doesn’t show any other past winners, so it’s still not completely clear whether or not only single players have taken home the money. While Hunger Games and Squid Game are very different stories and premises, the former did eventually bend the rules for multiple people to win in a notable exception. It’s also possible that Squid Game could have no winner since the rules state players have to win all 6 games. If all of Squid Game’s participants were killed after losing previous games, as almost occurred in the glass bridge game, the money would likely just go to the following year’s contest.