Release date, time, how to stream

On December 20, 2024By Littum

The first episode of MrBeast’s highly anticipated game show, “Beast Games”, is now available to stream on Prime Video.

YouTube creator James Donaldson, more popularly known as MrBeast, hosts the new competition series, which he claims has the biggest prize money in the game’s history. Per the show’s description1,000 contestants will battle through 10 episodes in physical and mental challenges for prizes including $5 million, a private island and Lamborghini. New episodes will premiere weekly until mid-February.

The “Beast Games” have made headlines in recent months as several contestants have sued Donaldson and Amazon for workplace abuse, citing unsafe conditions, harassment and denial of necessities like food and sleep.

Here’s what you need to know about “Beast Games.”

What happens in ‘Beast Games’?

According to the description of “Beast Games” on Prime Video, the show begins with 1,000 contestants vying for the final cash prize of $5 million. Over the course of 10 episodes, the contestants are narrowed down through a series of physical and mental challenges.

“Beast Games” is a combination of Netflix’s “Squid Game,” NBC’s defunct “Fear Factor” and CBS’ long-running series “Survivor.” In the second episode, also now available for streaming, the number of contestants is narrowed down to 500.

How to watch ‘Beast Games’

“Beast Games” is only available for streaming on Prime video. The first two episodes are released on Thursday, and a new episode is released every Thursday at 12pm EST through February 13th.

The series has 10 episodes and each episode hovers around 40 minutes long.

Do You Need an Amazon Prime Subscription to Watch ‘Beast Games’?

Yes, viewers must have an Amazon Prime subscription to watch “Beast Games.” Amazon offers several different ones subscription plans:

Amazon Prime: $14.99 per month or $139 per year
Amazon Video only: $8.99 per month
Amazon Prime Student: $7.49 per month or $69 per year

Can you watch ‘Beast Games’ on YouTube?

No. MrBeast may be known for his YouTube videos, but “Beast Games” is only available for streaming on Prime Video.

Ahead of the release of ‘Beast Games’, contestants are suing MrBeast, Amazon

Five participants sued MrBeast and Amazon in September for workplace abuse, including denial of pay, unsafe conditions and “a culture of misogyny and sexism.”

According to the class action lawsuit, the participants said there were various times when they were deprived of food, sleep and proper medical care. The lawsuit alleges that several contestants also suffered physical injuries or were hospitalized during the production. The lawsuit also alleges that women were subjected to “severe embarrassment” on set and the contestants were not subjected to a background check prior to production.

The lawsuit alleges that “Beast Games” contestants were required to enter into “illegal contracts” that misclassified them as volunteers in order for the show to qualify for tax breaks while filming in Las Vegas.

New York Times released a report in August detailing similar allegations of unsafe conditions faced by “Beast Games” contestants. A spokesperson for MrBeast told the New York Times that the show was “unfortunately complicated by the CrowdStrike incident, extreme weather and other unexpected logistical and communication issues.”

Neither MrBeast’s team nor Amazon immediately responded to requests for comment about the lawsuit when contacted Thursday by USA TODAY.

Who is MrBeast?

Donaldson, 26, is a YouTube content creator who first gained popularity in 2017 when he posted a video count to 100,000 in 40 hours. He is known for his quick videos where he hosts major contests and giveaways.

From Thursday he had 337 million YouTube subscribersmaking his channel the most subscribed on YouTube.

In his most popular video to date, released in 2021, Donaldson hosts his own version of “Squid Game,” the Netflix television series. In the video, Donaldson pits 456 contestants against each other for a cash prize of $456,000. Unlike the Netflix series, no one actually dies in Donaldson’s video. As of Thursday, the video had more than 678 million views.

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Starring: Max Hauptman

Greta Cross is a national trends reporter at USA TODAY. Follow her on X and Instagram @gretalcross. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].