With Stranger Things season 4 making a comeback after almost 3 long years, fans have been doing nothing but speculating this entire time. They know for a fact that the series is going to be a massive hit. But, will its launch be bigger than Netflix’s recent projects like Bridgerton and Squid Game, or is this horror series not as big as we thought it was?

What do the numbers say?

According to CNET, the most viewed shows on Netflix are Squid Game (season 1), Bridgerton (season 1), Money Heist (part 4), All of Us Are Dead, and Stranger Things (season 3).

All of these shows have undeniably left marks on the platform. If we’re to look at these statistics without context, one might think that other series can easily surpass Stranger Things. But, there remains one parameter that we need to take into consideration. That is the pandemic.

While the COVID pandemic has left very few aspects of life unaffected, one of which is people’s viewership habits. During the pandemic, when people had not much to do at hand, they turned to binge-watching to help them get through the day. This is where Netflix came in. Despite its constant price hikes, Netflix saw a record-breaking increase in its subscribers, with over 15.8 million people turning to the streaming giant.

What does this mean for Stranger Things season 4?

As we mentioned, Netflix grew exponentially during the pandemic, breaking all of its previous records. It was during this time that viewers saw the release of shows like Squid Game, Bridgerton, the later seasons of Money Heist, and the latest hit Korean Netflix Original, All of Us Are Dead. Fans saw these series during the height of COVID or long after Netflix has garnered millions of additional subscribers.

The extremely high viewership of these shows is proportional to the groundbreaking growth of Netflix as a streaming giant. Stranger Things season 4 is going to be back after almost 3 long years of fans awaiting it. Add to this the fact that Netflix has been almost completely revolutionized, and you begin to put together why fans are anticipating Stranger Things season 4 to be “huge”.

Hence, considering the odds and how Stranger Things has become a series with a great legacy, fans have high hopes for the Netflix Original to break all existing records on the platform. With a bar even higher for volume 2.

If you haven’t seen the first three seasons of Stranger Things yet, consider this your cue to stream the same before season 4 is out, lest you feel left out.