Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – MrBeast, the world’s most followed YouTuber, opened a temporary amusement park in Riyadh on Thursday, the latest celebrity drawn to Saudi Arabia as it aspires to become a major entertainment hub despite its atrocious human rights record.
Beast Land, open from November 13 to December 27, features several obstacle course-like challenges similar to those that appear in his videos, where contestants compete for massive pay days.
MrBeast’s park will be part of Riyadh Season, a major annual festival launched to promote the capital city as a tourist hub, as Saudi Arabia seeks to attract high-profile celebrities to diversify its oil-reliant economy.
“The majority of our audience is outside of North America and we have a large concentration of people who watch our videos in the Middle East,” he told AFP in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
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“A lot of times when we do stuff, we do it in the West or in other places and I just really wanted to do something fun for our fans who live around here.”
The influencer had earlier posted a video from the gates of the new park in Riyadh, shaped like a blue tiger’s head with flashing lightning bolts for eyes, reminiscent of his logo, with neon lights beaming on the attractions.
“This thing is the craziest thing that I’ve ever done, I can’t wait for you guys to experience this,” he said in the clip.
With more than 450 million subscribers on YouTube, the 27-year-old influencer, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has built a digital empire over the years that chimes with a nation whose population is 75% under the age of 35 and ranks “among the most avid media consumers in the world,” according to PwC.
