If morbid (like, actually morbid) curiosity has you itching to watch a real-life version of Netflix’s hit series Squid Game, rest assured you’re not alone. In fact, at least 115 million others feel the same way as you — and better yet, they already have.
Uploaded on November 25, MrBeast’s Squid Game currently rests well over 115 million views and close to 10 million likes on YouTube. The 25-minute long video boasts itself as perfect “real life” version of Netflix’s hit series, with nearly every last game from the series’ immaculately recreated, the same number of contestants (456), and a massive cash prize of $456,000 up for grabs. While that last bit might be a bit less the show’s 45.6 billion, one of the other key differences between the show and MrBeast’s Squid Game is you don’t die if you lose, so it kind of evens out.
In the video, 456 contestants compete for the half-million-dollar prize, participating in five of the six games made famous by the hyper-violent South Korean drama and a new one created by MrBeast himself. Similar to the show, when a contestant loses the game, they are “eliminated,” though rather than death they face the wrath of a small device is under their shirt that pops and releases fake blood on their signature green tracksuit. However, don’t feel too bad for the losers — the famous YouTuber also shook things up by offering plenty of consolation prizes and even incentives for folks to quit the game early, doling out thousands at the end of nearly each mini-game.
While on the surface the whole project is quite the feat of production and undeniably pretty amazing, perhaps what’s even more impressive is that MrBeast and his team managed to create the entire video — sets and all — in around seven weeks. However, the video has also caused some discontent on the internet after various YouTube creators pointed the video’s quick turnaround, and praised MrBeast’s Squid Game as a glowing example of “the promise of the creator economy” with little regard as to how creating a television show and emulating it for a YouTube video are drastically different from one another.
.@MrBeast Squid Games video: 103M views in 4 days. It took 7 weeks to make.@netflix’s Squid Games series: 111M views in 30 days. It took 10 years (!!) to make.
More views, less time, fewer gatekeepers. That’s the promise of the creator economy. pic.twitter.com/SwDjjNgAqH
— Jon Youshaei (@EveryVowel) November 28, 2021
In point of fact, @MrBeast‘s video took ten years and seven days to make, at a cost of the budget for the Netflix show plus his own, requiring the combined labor of the entire cast and crew of the show plus everybody who worked on his video.
— Alexandra Erin, PhD, MD, EdD, JD (from UATX) (@AlexandraErin) November 29, 2021
So the promise of the creator economy is that you can spend 10 years of your life making something so that someone else can quickly parody it and get more views so that then someone else can claim the parody was more successful and took less work? Cool cool
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) November 29, 2021
the mona lisa took years to paint, but as a creator i can photograph it in mere seconds
— Shaun (@shaun_vids) November 29, 2021
Folks have also been quick to note how MrBeast’s recreation of Squid Game for entertainment value is pretty perverse considering the anti-capitalist message of the Netflix series and how it explicitly condemns people who idly watch folks struggle and mercilessly compete for money. However, this is merely the latest in a long string of MrBeast going above and beyond (and spending a hell of a lot of money) all for the sake of content, so it feels safe to say he might not feel quite the same about cash as Squid Game creator Hwang Dong-hyuk does. For those craving more Squid Game without the questionable morality, you’ll be pleased to know Hwang has confirmed a second season is on the way.