What Exactly Is Beast Land?
MrBeast is known for massive challenges, wild giveaways, and videos that feel like real life game shows. His latest project takes that formula into the real world. Beast Land is a temporary theme park style experience that opened on November 13 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Think of it less like Disneyland and more like a giant sponsored event or IRL game show hub. It mixes fairground attractions, competitive games, and a heavy layer of MrBeast branding.
The park includes Beast Zone, a dedicated area focused on games and competitions. These are clearly tuned to match the style of his YouTube content, where people compete in simple but high pressure challenges for money.
Some of the highlighted games include:
- Drop Zone where players stand on a series of trap doors and fight to be the last person standing. It is basically a physical elimination game built for suspense.
- Airmail where players ride a zipline and try to drop a weighted bag onto a target below. It is the kind of straightforward but tense challenge that looks great on camera.
On top of the games, Beast Land features thrill rides, giant photo spots where you can pose like you are hanging out with MrBeast and his Feastables, and an ocean of branded merch. It is designed so every corner feels ready for a TikTok, Instagram story, or YouTube short.
The main competitive hook is a serious cash prize. The park is holding one million Saudi Riyal in winnings, which is around 266,000 US dollars. That money goes to the highest scoring Arena players, which makes the whole place feel like half theme park, half esports tournament, half marketing machine.
Why Riyadh and Why Now?
One of the biggest questions around Beast Land is: why is it in Riyadh at all?
Saudi Arabia is not exactly the first place many fans would guess for a MrBeast event. The country is extremely conservative and its human rights record regularly draws serious criticism from global organizations and governments.
Some of the key issues mentioned by human rights groups include:
- Women were only allowed to drive starting in 2018 and still face legal restrictions due to male guardianship rules introduced in 2022.
- Protests and public demonstrations are illegal.
- Saudi authorities were found responsible for ordering the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, according to investigations including a CIA assessment.
So putting a loud, flashy, influencer theme park there is not just random. It is political whether the organizers admit it or not.
MrBeast gave one explanation on X. He said Riyadh is roughly in the middle of the world and that a majority of his audience is outside the United States. He also mentioned that he has a large fan base in the Middle East and wanted them to have a chance to participate in his projects.
However, users quickly added a community note pointing out an important detail. Earlier this year MrBeast signed a deal with Riyadh Season, a Saudi funded entertainment festival, and Beast Land is part of that deal. So this is not just about geography or fans. It is also about a paid partnership with a government backed event.
That context makes Beast Land feel like more than just another wild MrBeast stunt. It also fits into a broader strategy Saudi Arabia has been using for years.
Saudi Arabia’s Big Push into Games and Entertainment
Beast Land is not happening in a vacuum. It is part of a larger pattern of Saudi Arabia investing heavily in global entertainment, especially gaming.
The country’s public investment fund has been buying big stakes in major companies around the world. In gaming, it has become a serious player. One high profile example is its role as a major stakeholder in a huge deal involving Electronic Arts, which drew criticism and concern from developer unions and industry watchers.
The general idea is pretty simple. Saudi Arabia wants to diversify its economy beyond oil, build a new global image, and pull more cultural power and attention toward itself. Investing in streaming stars, sports, esports, and game companies is a fast way to get eyeballs and influence.
To some people, this looks like fun new opportunities. To others, it looks like a country with a troubling rights record trying to buy good publicity and soften its image through entertainment. Beast Land sits right in the middle of that debate.
From the outside, the park itself might not be that impressive as a traditional theme park. Critics have described it as closer to a noisy pop up fair layered in brand deals and MrBeast logos than a true immersive world. But as a symbol, it is important. It shows how far Saudi Arabia is willing to go to pull the biggest internet creators into its orbit and how much those creators are willing to work with governments and institutions that come with serious ethical baggage.
For fans, Beast Land is a rare chance to step into a MrBeast video style environment for real and maybe even walk out with life changing prize money. For critics, it is another example of over the top wealth displays being used to distract from real world problems. For the games and entertainment industry, it is another reminder that Saudi money is becoming harder and harder to ignore.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/events-conferences/mrbeasts-pop-up-theme-park-in-saudi-arabia-looks-to-be-a-master-class-in-cynicism/
