With a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics panned Beast Games. In the UK, The Guardian called it a ‘dystopian nightmare’. However, it reached 50 million viewers in 25 days and was Amazon’s second-best series debut in 2024 after Fallout. So has MrBeast overreached, or has he shown that his YouTube antics are the blueprint for the future of television?
The phenomenon
MrBeast, aka Jimmy Donaldson, is the largest star on YouTube with over 350 million subscribers and a net worth of around US$1 billion.
He began posting on YouTube when he was 13 and has become famous for his high-stakes challenges – for example, extreme juxtapositions – ‘$1 vs $1,000,000 hotel room’, and sensationalist generosity – ‘I saved 100 dogs from dying’.
The American has also branched out into merchandise, chocolate bars, restaurants and venture capital. He has become a brand.
Beast Games
Amazon Studios approached Donaldson to create Beast Games in March 2024 and paid him around US$100 million.
Beast Games first aired on 19 December 2024, with the last episode airing on 13 February 2025. A second season is already rumoured.
In Beast Games, 1,000 contestants are whittled down over 10 episodes through various challenges until the last person standing claims the US$5 million prize.
The challenges range from physical challenges, such as teams pulling six-tonne monster trucks, to experiments seemingly dreamed up by cruel PhD economists, such as team members taking turns to secretly draw cash amounts from a US$1 million pool of money.
Much of the look and feel of the show was inspired by the Korean drama and Netflix hit Squid Game but with the addition of bribery, social coercion and the personality (or lack of) of MrBeast himself. It also mirrors many of MrBeast’s challenges on YouTube, albeit with a bigger budget and slicker production.
It’s beastly…
Critics argue that the series does a poor job of delving into the lives of contestants, which results in high-stakes and often cruel challenges that leave the audience feeling disturbed or numb rather than sympathetic to the contestants.
Reaction to the series has also been coloured by reports that several contestants are suing Donaldson for alleged poor treatment and suffering experienced on the series.
Deeper criticisms of the series argue that the narcissism of MrBeast and selfishness of his contestants reflect American society at large.
However, perhaps the harshest criticism is that the show pales in comparison to its inspiration, Squid Game, and even your average reality show from the last two decades. But MrBeast did not become famous because of the originality and quality of his entertainment; rather, his ultimate skill is drawing a new generation of viewers, first on YouTube and now on a streaming platform.
Older generations may bemoan the popularity of ‘inferior’ remakes and reboots, but younger generations should not be looked down upon for appreciating the good in the imitation. Some art spans the generations but, more often, it needs to be reinvented in each generation. Beast Games is an example of the latter.
Give us more
Despite the criticisms, the success of the show in viewership has TV and streaming executives fighting for the next YouTube star.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max recently announced they are launching a new reality TV show with YouTube and social media stars Jake and Logan Paul.
Amazon is also benefitting from exposure to younger potential customers and is gleefully collecting data from them.
Final thoughts
MrBeast may not have won over the critics or older audiences, but he did not have to; he just had to bring a large chunk of his YouTube audience to Amazon. By that metric, he succeeded and has paved the way for other YouTube stars to transition to more mainstream media. The future is now.