When Squid Game first exploded onto Netflix in late 2021, its influence on other forms of popular culture was immediate. The GTA 5 modding scene was captured by the zeitgeist, but it must be said that Los Santos and Blaine County's slant on the dystopian murder game show left a lot to be desired.
Defined by janky scripts, boring assets and dodgy AI, even the best-looking standalone variations lacked depth and purpose. The projects that pervaded the GTA roleplaying space arrived with some decent ideas at the time—and, crucially, swathes of keen contestants—but ultimately lacked the execution needed to keep folk returning.
I wasn't exactly looking to check-in on the Squid Game GTA mods space, then (I am, admittedly, still to get round to watching seasons two and three of the show itself), however I am happy to report it's in really good shape today.
Over the course of the last six months, in fact, it appears a whole host of neat fan-made projects have followed the conclusion of the show's third outing last summer. As you might expect, the iconic Red Light-Green Light gauntlet has received the most attention—but this time with scripts that actually work, configurable timers, smart detection logic, properly defined elimination rules, and in thematic terms, NPC behaviour that meets the show's darker themes and GTA's zany tone somewhere in the middle.
From the spaces I've sampled over the last few weeks, both standalone and those baked into FiveM RP, some mods drop you into fenced-off murder boxes, while others adopt custom maps with spectator cameras and scripted announcers. As you might expect, players now want more, with player progression, custom challenges and dedicated tournaments just some of the requests filling comment sections on the likes of GTA 5-Mods.
All of which reflects the very best of GTA modding: starting out small, a wee bit daft, somewhat broken—and then evolving into something more sustainable and worth returning for.
