Amazon triumphs with the controversial 'Beast games', the extreme 'reality' of YouTube's King Midas MrBeast

BarcelonaMrBeast is the nickname of James Stephen Donaldson, a 26-year-old self-made millionaire with 363 million followers on YouTube. He rose to fame in 2017 with a video that earned him 100,000 followers, but today he is best known for his often extreme challenge clips: he offers large sums of money to those who complete challenges and gives away juicy prizes to random people. He is also known for his large contributions to non-profit organizations that plant trees or build clean water wells in Africa.

Donaldson has broken barriers with his latest project, the Amazon Prime TV game show Beast gamesIt's a lavishly expensive show: nearly 2,000 contestants, a $5 million first prize – the biggest on television so far – which was surprisingly doubled to $10 million, and a system of 1,107 cameras to capture it all. Plus, an entire city has been built as a set, reminiscent of the series. The Squid Game. The challenges are varied: from physical and mental tests to social and random games, some inspired by the Korean series and others completely new.

The contestants of Beast games They had very different plans in mind if they won the prize: helping noble causes, paying for their relatives' pensions or buying jet skis. Still, there were other rewards apart from the five million: the juiciest, a private island worth 1.8 million dollars, other amounts with five zeros and a Lamborghini.

Amazon does not give audience data but exceptionally it has revealed that twenty-five days after its premiere on December 19, it had accumulated 50 million viewers. The platform also explained that 50% of the audience is outside the United States, with an especially high number of viewers in India, the United Kingdom and Mexico. It has been the most watched series on Amazon in the United States for ten days, although it has also become the most watched in Mexico, Turkey, Argentina, India, Egypt and Poland. In addition, the program has broken 44 Guinness world records during filming, such as the largest amount of money bet in a coin toss in a reality show ($5,000,000) or the largest amount of bribes awarded on a show. There are also other, more entertaining records, such as the world's largest pong cup (3.04 m high), the world's largest drag race (3.04 m high), the world's largest basketball player (3.04 m high), and the world's largest basketball player (3.04 m high). monster truck The longest (150 meters in 15 minutes and 14:25 seconds) and the team betrayal game with the most participants (1,100).

The challenges of the show are varied: there are physical, mental and social challenges, childish ones that remind us of those ofThe Squid Game and others more brutal or random. Already in the first chapter, MrBeast promises to distribute a million dollars among all those who voluntarily fold. The most significant test of the episode is when the youtuber The show separates contestants into rows and attempts to bribe them. If anyone in the row accepts the money, the entire row is eliminated and only the person who was bribed goes home with the money. The opening bid is $10,000, the second is $20,000, the third is $50,000, the fourth is $80,000, and the final bribe is $100,000.

The tenth and final episode of the series premiered on February 13 and was well received online, with congratulatory messages from fans on MrBeast, although some critics disagree. Journalist and cultural critic Adrian Horton said: "The show is subpar: poorly lit, frantically edited, poorly structured, annoyingly loud, and unfinished in design." Vox's Rebecca Jennings also criticised him: "Contestants were reportedly required to sign contracts stating 'I understand that these activities may cause death, illness or serious bodily injury to me'. Some contestants were sent out on bunk beds and others were hospitalised." One contestant recounted her experience on the show. New York Times: "We signed up for the show, but not because we weren't fed, given anything to drink or treated like human beings." The same newspaper spoke to other contestants, who complained that they had been offered meals with a small portion of cold oatmeal, a hard-boiled egg and some pieces of raw vegetables.

Another complaint that has been echoed has been about contestants who had to take medication. Several people explained that they had not received their medication on time, and even a contestant who needed insulin received it hours or days after the scheduled dosing times. Another reported that he had initially been denied the food he needed to take his medication and that after insisting they gave him half a banana. Neither MrBeast nor his team have made any statements on these issues.

MrBeast has conveyed the essence ofThe Squid Game in real life, but on a monumental scale. With Beast games has crossed the borders of YouTube and has established itself as a television product, showing how influencers can transcend digital platforms and conquer new formats. Despite the criticism, its success is undeniable and marks a before and after in global entertainment.