Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson is a face we’re all going to be seeing for the rest of our lives. The world’s most popular YouTuber is extending the tendrils of the MrBeast empire far beyond simple merch, and his biggest current project is being bankrolled by Amazon. Beast Games is inspired by both Netflix’s Squid Game and the most popular video on his channel, “$456,000 Squid Game in Real Life!”, and will see 1,000 contestants competing for a share of a $5 million prize.

Squid Game is one of Netflix’s breakout hits, with the second series due at the end of this year, a fluorescent and creepy tale of what desperate people will do for money, and the people who exploit them and watch. The show’s twist, which is a minor spoiler though it becomes clear early in the series, is that these childrens’ games are deadly, and the losers do not walk away. One of the threads in the series is how different contestants deal with this realisation, and each other, while coping with the degrading and unsafe conditions they’re kept in en masse between events.

Beast Games is aiming to be Squid Game without the literal death, but it may have gotten closer to some of those other elements than participants expected. The show was announced in March and applications opened, with 2,000 applicants eventually accepted, a number that was to be whittled down to the 1,000 who would take part in the show proper. The expectations for the kind of games involved were obviously high, with the MrBeast name in latter years mainly associated with wild stunts and feats of endurance, and during the process applicants claimed they were asked if they’d be willing to be buried alive (the subject of an existing MrBeast video), could swim to shore if thrown overboard, or would even travel to space.

Prospective candidates also had to sign a contract that includes a standard waiver about the exertions involved, saying “I understand that such activities may cause me death, illness, or serious bodily injury, including, but not limited to exhaustion, dehydration, overexertion, burns, and heat stroke.” I did a half-marathon assault course several years ago and basically had to agree to the same thing, so this is not unusual.

However, per a report in the New York Times, the real concerns for participants turned out to be rather more prosaic than falling off an electrified cargo net. The Times spoke to over a dozen participants involved in the show, all of whom have signed NDAs so remain anonymous, who claimed the conditions for contestants were poor, and in some cases outright dangerous. 

These claims relate to the first instalment of Beast Games, which is due to be broadcast on MrBeast’s YouTube channel, during which 2,000 contestants become the 1,000 that will compete on the all-singing all-dancing Amazon version. Among other claims, these participants said they were only fed twice a day, received inadequate medical care, and had witnessed fellow contestants vomiting, passing out, and being removed from the arena on stretchers. Several were taken to hospital. “We signed up for the show, but we didn’t sign up for not being fed or watered or treated like human beings,” said one contestant.

Shooting began in July at the Allegiant Stadium in Nevada and was scheduled for several days of filming, during which competitors had to eat, sleep and live inside the venue (another echo of Squid Game, where the contestants are unable to leave). Before arriving people had to give the production crew their belongings, including phones, prescription medications, and even underwear.

Contestants were assured that things like medications would be available when required, but the reality was otherwise, with production staff seemingly overwhelmed by the volume of participants and unable to maintain an orderly system. One diabetic contestant who needed insulin received it hours after their dose was scheduled, while another was denied the food she needed to take the medication with (after repeated complaints she was given half a banana).

The contestants each had to supply a ziploc bag containing five days’ worth of underwear, which would be given to them once the games started. In the event some were left without their bags for days, and in one case a group of female contestants who were menstruating asked the production staff for quicker access to their underwear, only to be told it was “not a medical emergency” while a member of the crew laughed.

A MrBeast spokesperson told the New York Times that the filming “was unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather and other unexpected logistical and communications issues.” They further claimed a review was underway in order that “we learn from this experience.” Amazon made no comment.

Red Light, Green Light

Contestants also complained that the true number of 2,000 competitors was withheld until they were there, misleading them. 1,000 contestants was the number advertised by Amazon and Donaldson, but on their arrival everyone received a video message from Donaldson. “Obviously, there’s 2,000 contestants,” says Donaldson in the message. “I don’t remember if I said that publicly or not, but there is.”

The production company was expected to feed contestants during the filming, but in the event one contestant claims to have gone 20 hours without eating. One meal was a small glob of oatmeal, a hard-boiled egg, and a few bits of raw veg. On other occasions, the MrBeast crew passed around Feastables to contestants, the MrBeast snack bar line, and filmed some contestants eating the bars and complimenting them.

The contestants did not have phones or watches inside the stadium but estimate they were fed once in the morning and once more in the late afternoon or evening. A MrBeast spokesperson claims the contestants were offered three meals a day.

This first instalment of Beast Games featured four elimination events. The first involved five teams of 400 pulling ropes attached to 10,000-pound weights as fast as possible, and trouble began with a scramble for the team pinnies. Contestants describe a frightening crush, with people openly shoving one another, production staff unable to regain control, people hyperventilating, and male contestants trying to ensure they were on majority male teams by controlling the pinnies. One contestant described leaving after being injured and eliminated in this challenge, and being handed $1,000 in dollar bills as a consolation prize on camera, before having to hand it back after filming stopped (she was told the real money would follow, but has still not been paid).

Contestants who passed this challenge were given toiletries and a sleeping bag, and had to sleep on the stadium floor. The 1,000 contestants who’ve made it through will now take part in the next stage of the Beast Games, being filmed in Canada in August.

The Beast Games began, said the contestants, with MrBeast emerging from a shrine and onto a platform above $5 million in cash, during which the contestants were flanked by “guards” with face masks in all-black uniforms. The contestants were told to go wild cheering for MrBeast.

“We’re all just looking up at the sky,” recalled one participant, “screaming at him like he’s god.”