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‘Beast Games’: Family Fun or Mammon Worship?

MrBeast’s new reality series takes ‘Squid Game’ as its inspiration, but it misses the Korean show’s social critique.

On December 19, 2024, Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson released the first two episodes of his megahit Beast Games. It has since become Prime Video’s most-watched unscripted TV show, with more than 50 million viewers. The winner took home a $10 million cash prize, the largest reality TV payout in history. MrBeast runs YouTube’s biggest channel, targeted toward young adults. Unsurprisingly, Beast Games is marketed as a family friendly show in the vein of American Ninja Warrior or The Amazing Race.

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