Like the dystopian show Squid Games that inspired it, Beast Games is getting a second season, despite a wave of controversy over the first season of MrBeast's Prime Video reality competition.
This week a casting call appeared on the Beast Games website announcing that contestant submissions are now open for season two, which will be filming from May to July 2025. A casting call was also posted on the official MrBeast casting page on Instagram. The reality show, run by YouTuber Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson, is offering a $5,000,000 grand prize for competitors in its real-life rendition of Squid Game.
You might not want to jump on that contestant application, though. Season one of Beast Games broke a slew of Guinness world records, but it has also faced significant backlash after players reported unsafe, humiliating conditions on set, including harassment, a lack of food, and even hospitalizations. Some contestants have even filed ongoing lawsuits against MrBeast and Amazon.
On top of all that, MrBeast himself admitted earlier this year that making Beast Games "was not a good financial decision." Despite a rumored budget exceeding $100 million from Amazon, MrBeast reportedly paid tens of millions of dollars out of his own pocket to make the show, with some individual sets costing upwards of $10 million to construct.
As if unsafe contestant conditions and budget troubles weren't enough, season one of Beast Games was hit with reviews that, to put it kindly, were mixed. The show's IMDb page includes review headline gems like "Contestants make me doubt humanity's future," "Good watch but nauseating," and "Faith lost in humanity."
Even on a basic production level, it's hard not to see Beast Games as little more than a long YouTube video. It's jarring and at times unnerving to watch, even if you like Squid Games, especially because the stories of players competing in a reality show to escape poverty aren't fictional in Beast Games.
Still, it seems the first season's troubles weren't enough to ward off a sophomore season. Hopefully the MrBeast team learns from their mistakes in season one or, at the very least, remembers to feed their players a few times a day this time around.
