How Much Did MrBeast Spend On Beast Games? (Was It The Most Expensive Reality TV Show Ever?)
Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has taken his social media fame and fortune to the world of reality TV with the launch of his $100-million competition show, Beast Games. MrBeast has already conquered YouTube with his highly addictive, short-form content videos that often involve people doing pranks or challenges for money. His YouTube channel currently boasts over 360 million followers. But now, MrBeast wants to prove his social media success can translate to a multi-episode reality show on a streaming service.
Beast Games' astronomical price tag, not to mention the $5 million prize package (which was upped to $10 million in a shocking last-minute twist on the finale), even caught the attention of Guinness World Records. It reported that the show broke more than 40 world records throughout filming. The biggest world record the show broke was the cost of the show itself: At $100 million, Beast Games is officially the most expensive season of a competitive reality TV show.
Beast Games Winner Walked Away With $10 Million
Player 831, Jeffrey Allen, Called A Coin Toss, Guessed Correct Suitcase
Beast Games' concept is a celebration of excess, with large sums of money being casually tossed around for contestants to either claim or deny, leaving them free to continue competing for the final grand prize. Often, their choice involves eliminating their fellow contestants, adding to the high stakes of the game. At the start, 1,000 contestants vied to win the prize fund, but that number was slowly whittled down each week until only one contestant emerged victorious.\
While the show touted a $5 million grand prize, which The Independent called "the biggest-ever giveaway in television or streaming history," the already impressive amount was doubled in the show's finale after eventual winner, Jeffrey Allen, also known as Player 831, correctly called a coin toss that would either keep the prize amount the same or double it. He ended up winning the grand prize of $10 million on the show's finale, which aired on February 13 on Amazon Prime.
Beast Games Cost MrBeast Over $100 Million
Budget Included Prizes, Custom City, Private Island
While there are some mixed reports of how much the show cost, MrBeast appeared on a podcast in October and confirmed that he spent over $100 million to bring the show to life. Business Insider reported that on an episode of Impaulsive, hosted by YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul, when questioned about the budget, MrBeast didn't mince words.
"Paul said he heard Donaldson had a budget of $100 million for the show, to which Donaldson replied, 'That's what the headlines said. But yes, I also spent way more than $100 million,' he said. He didn't clarify if this was spent on one season, but the show has only been commissioned for one so far."
The budget included the construction of a $14 million set known as Beast City in Toronto, Canada. Business Insider quoted MrBeast as saying, "We spent $14,000,000 building a city in a field for the contestants in Beast Games to live and compete in," in a promotion for the show he posted X, formerly known as Twitter. Some reports have estimated that Beast City cost $15 million.
Beast City, which looks like a real-life video game, is an enclosed space that boasts living accommodations for contestants, restaurants and cafés, a basketball court, parks, and more. It's also where the top 500 contestants lived and competed during the show's run, although some challenges were set elsewhere. Millions of dollars in prizes were also included in the show's budget. Forbes reported that MrBeast awarded additional millions to contestants throughout the show.
"MrBeast has said he ultimately handed out about $20 million to 84 of the total contestants."
Another item offered as a prize? A private island worth $1.8 million was eventually won during episode 6 by Player 952, aka Mia Speight.
Beast Games Sued By Contestants
Lawsuit Alleges Emotional Distress, Sexual Harassment
That title didn't spare MrBeast from the controversy surrounding the conditions in which the contestants lived while filming the show. The Los Angeles Times reported contestants sued MrBeast and Amazon for "sexual harassment, failure to pay minimum wages and negligent infliction of emotional distress, among other allegations" in a lawsuit filed in September 2024. Critics of Beast Games have also been less than kind, but despite everything, Beast Games appears to be a hit, with "50 million viewers in its first 25 days, becoming Prime Video's most-watched unscripted series ever."
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of five anonymous contestants. Representatives for MrBeast and the production companies named in the lawsuit have not formally responded. Several months have passed since and not much more has been said regarding the matter.
Beast Games Shatters 40 World Records
Records Include Largest Physical Cash Prize, More
The production of the show has also shattered world records, with Guinness World Records reporting the show broke over 40 records throughout its production, ranging from cash prizes to several foam blocks used on a set.
Records broken included:
- Largest physical cash prize on set: $5 million
- Most prize money turned down on a competitive reality TV show: $1 million
- Largest prize fund awarded for a competitive reality TV show: $10 million
- Most money won in a single episode of a competitive reality TV show: $2 million
- Highest amount of money won/lost on a coin toss on a competitive reality show: $5 million
- Most amount of money in bribes awarded on a competitive reality TV show: $6.7 million
Some of the records broken were a bit more specific, and some were downright silly, including:
- Most people opening mystery briefcases simultaneously: 407 people
- Largest display of cardboard cutouts of the same character: 50,000
- Most foam cubes used on the set of a competitive reality TV show: 250,000 cubes
- Most trap doors used on a single set of a TV show:1,000 trap doors
- Most people simultaneously dropped through trap doors: 83 people
- Most people dropped consecutively through trap doors: 83 people
It's unclear whether the bulk of the financing for Beast Games came from MrBeast's own pockets, Amazon, or a combination of both. But one thing that seems likely is that the show will return for another season, given the enormous success its first season gained.
Beast Games is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
Sources: Guinness World Records, The Independent, Business Insider, Business Insider, Forbes, Los Angeles Times
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