A gamer who was known as Squid Game long before the Netflix show came out may be forced to change her name because of it.
Netflix show Squid Game is not only one of the biggest hits in television history but one of the most unexpected, so much so that it doesn’t even have its own Twitter account – but a popular Twitch channel called SquidGame does.
That has, understandably, caused some confusion amongst fans, with things quickly turning nasty when they started sending owner Lydia Ellery, 32, abusive messages and tried to break into her account – convinced that she’d somehow stolen the name from Netflix.
Not only that, but Ellery has lost out on a number of presenting jobs because of the name and the assumption people have that she’s trying to profit off the success of the show.
Ellery has over 42,300 followers on Twitch and is part of the popular Yogscast collective, which has over seven million YouTube subscribers. Although that’s nothing compared to the 142 million Netflix alleges has watched Squid Game.
As Ellery explained to the BBC, the name Squid has always been her nickname amongst her friends, since it rhymes with lid and her name is Lydia; she’s used the name SquidGame online for over a decade.
The name of the show is taken from a traditional Korean children’s playground game, so the equivalent would be if the show was called Bulldog or Tag if it had been made in the UK.
‘I started getting abusive messages from people. People were getting angry with me because they were mega fans… and thought I took the account from the show,’ she told the BBC.
‘I’ve received a lot of hate from the fans and I’ve been turned down for work because of it [the name]’.
Ellery is unclear on why exactly she’s lost out on the presenting jobs but reveals that her brand, that she’s spent over 10 years building up, is now effectively ruined.
‘Looks like I might have to change my handle after all. I’ve lost two amazing presenting opportunities because people don’t want to hire me with my ‘squid game’ handle’, she said on Twitter. ‘This is really getting me down now.’
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