YouTuber’s real-life Squid Game gets 5M views in an hour despite controversy

The contestants were battling it out for a $456,000 cash prize

Millions of people tuned in to watch a real-life Squid Game setup by Youtuber MrBeast. The YouTube star, who is one of the biggest names on the platform and boasts a ridiculous 76.9 million subscribers, had announced earlier this month that he had built a real-life version of the game. https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1459406598246436868 On Wednesday, the video finally went up online. MrBeast got 456 people to take part in his own version of the hit Netflix show which he had almost perfectly recreated - at a cost of around $3.5m - with contestants bidding to win $456,000. Obviously there was no death involved but each contestant was even fitted with a little explosive dye patch on their stomach to make it look like they had been shot, just like in the series. Within an hour of its release, the video had gained over five million views. At the time of writing, it has 32.5 million views. https://twitter.com/MrBeast/status/1463628946445119488 However many have been critical of the video, arguing that a Youtuber spending millions to recreate a series that provides a scathing view on the debt and money in South Korean society has quite an ironic tinge to it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e3GPea1Tyg&t=179s One viewer wrote: "Sad to see people playing this sh*t in real life and they don’t know what is the hidden messages of squid sh*t." Another added: "I will say, I don’t hate MrBeast or care what he does, but the irony of spending all of this money to mimic a show where the message was about money just speaks volumes." A third said: "I don’t think you understood the point of Squid Game James." Meanwhile, others have pointed out that the Youtuber does a huge amount for charity as well, and many of his videos are all about helping others and those in need. https://twitter.com/BookJurrasic/status/1460040795071959040 Related links:

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