YouTube star MrBeast is facing safety complaints from contestants in the preliminary round of his new game show, Beast Games.
The show, which is set to award a grand prize of NZD$8.4 million, is in production with 1,000 competitors. During the initial filming at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, some contestants reported issues with accessing food, water, and medication. Additionally, a few participants were injured during production.
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is reviewing the process and gathering feedback from attendees before the next filming phase in Toronto. The game show is a significant venture for MrBeast, whose YouTube channel boasts 307 million subscribers. The show has been picked up by Amazon Prime Video to air in 240 countries.
MrBeast expressed his goal of proving that YouTubers can succeed on other platforms.
During the early filming in Las Vegas, 2,000 people participated, and half of them are expected to advance to the actual show. MrBeast’s team faced challenges, including extreme weather and a global technology outage, which complicated the production.
MrBeast offered eliminated contestants NZD$1,680 to compensate for their participation.
Some contestants expected the challenges to resemble those from the Netflix show Squid Game, which features high-stakes children’s games. However, they were surprised to learn that the competition was not yet streaming on Amazon Prime Video. A contestant, Scott Leopold, felt misled about his chances of winning, stating, “All I can conclude is that he was in over his head.”
MrBeast has faced similar issues before. He has been involved in lawsuits with contractors and vendors, with some fans experiencing delays and mistakes with merchandise orders. Despite these challenges, MrBeast’s team is optimistic about learning from this experience and creating an exciting show.
