Beast Games season 2

The second season of Beast Games, a reality competition show created by Jimmy "MrBeast" Donaldson was first released on Amazon Prime Video on January 7, 2026. The grand prize is $5 million USD, with $15 million total in cash and prizes.^[1][2] The season has a "Strong vs. Smart" theme and includes 200 contestants, 100 who are smart and 100 who are strong.^[3]

Tyler Lucas won this season, winning a grand total of $5,105,000.^[4]

Season 1 of Beast Games was released on Amazon Prime Video between December 2024 and February 2025 as ten episodes, released weekly.^[5] It became Prime Video's most watched unscripted series ever and its second largest series debut of 2025,^[6] though it was received poorly by critics. Several contestants alleged they were mistreated during production, resulting in a lawsuit against Donaldson's company and several others.^[7]

In an interview on the Colin and Samir podcast in January 2025, Donaldson said that he would be continuing with season 2 and 3 but he was told not to talk about anything definitive,^[8][9] and that season 2 would be easier to produce than season 1.^[10] In February, he said that he was "super happy" with season 1 and "really wants" to do season 2.^[11]

In a comment on a Scott Cramer YouTube video in February, he said that season 2 would have the numbers going down quicker than season 1, and would have more skill-based games.^[12] He mentioned contacting Cramer to ask him to help with season 2.^[9]

Season 2 was confirmed on March 14, when Donaldson released a casting call on Instagram, and announced that the total prizes amount to $15 million USD, which would be the largest single cash prize in reality television history.^[13][14] The series was officially renewed for season 2, as well as season 3, on May 12, 2025, during Amazon's annual upfront presentation in New York.^[15][5][16]

The season is hosted and executive produced by MrBeast, with Sean Klitzner, Tyler Conklin and Mack Hopkins as co-creators. The showrunners are Tyler Conklin and Mack Hopkins, who also serve as executive producers together with Michael Cruz, Jeff Housenbold, Michael Miller, Josh Kulic and Chris Keiper, and Tyler Conklin is the Series Director.^[3]

Filming began in June 2025.^[10][17][18]

The majority of the season was filmed in North Carolina.^[19][20] The production received a $15 million grant from the State of North Carolina, representing nearly half of the state's $31 million annual film and entertainment grant program.^[21] To enable the grant, North Carolina amended its film incentive guidelines in June 2025 to clarify that reality-based competition series would not be considered game shows and thus would be eligible for grant awards.^[19] The production employed approximately 630 people in the state throughout filming and post-production.^[19] Most of the season is set in Beast City, located in Greenville, North Carolina^[22], MrBeast's hometown, which broke the world record for the largest single set build on a competitive reality TV show.^[23][24] Filming at Beast City ran continuously for 31.5 days.^[25] Episodes 1 and 2 were partly filmed at Dark Horse Stages in Wilmington, North Carolina.^[22][26]

The opening of episode 1 was filmed at a temporary sound stage built on a vacant lot near the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas.^[27] The building, resembling an aircraft hangar, was used by the production from May 1 until June 30.^[28][29] Officials of the Nevada Governor's Office of Economic Development said that the production had an estimated $16 million budget.^[30]

Episode 4 features a crossover with CBS reality series Survivor.^[31] Filmed in Fiji after the production of Survivor 49,^[32] the Survivor production team hosted a series of challenges for Beast Games, with Survivor host Jeff Probst appearing as a co-host as part of the crossover. As part of the crossover, MrBeast is also set to appear in an episode of Survivor 50: In the Hands of the Fans.^[33][34]

Episodes 8 (partly), 9, and 10 were filmed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.^[35][36] The outdoor portions were filmed at The Square, a replica of Times Square located within Boulevard City, near the site where MrBeast would later open the temporary Beast Land theme park, while studio segments were filmed at AlHisn Big Time Studios.^[35][36]

Filming was completed in August 2025.^[37][38]

Two episodes of the season feature localized versions for different international markets, with region-specific creators receiving additional screen time in their respective editions.^[39][36] Episode 1 features Uruguayan creator Fede Vigevani in Spanish-speaking territories and French creator Amixem in French-speaking territories, while episode 9 features Indian YouTuber CarryMinati in India.^[39][36]

Season 2 of Beast Games featured an initial 200 contestants, compared to the starting 1,000 in the first season. The contestants were split into two teams, "Smart" and "Strong". In the second episode, ten contestants were given the opportunity to take a bribe and swap with a contestant from the first season. This brought the total number of contestants competing in the second season to 210. The ten returning players were classified as "OG".

In addition to the $5,000,000 grand prize, contestants competed for a private island, valued at $1,800,000, in a series of Survivor themed challenges during the crossover episode. Contestants were given opportunities to take bribes in exchange for eliminating themselves or their fellow competitors. All Top 20 contestants earned $5,000, sponsored by T-Mobile. All players received $1,000 for playing. Only players receiving more than $5,000 in prizes are listed. The returning players' Season 1 total is listed as well.

The season premiered on Amazon Prime Video on January 7, 2026, with the first three episodes being released on that day and the remaining seven episodes being released weekly through February 25.^[42][3]

A seven-part behind-the-scenes docuseries of the production, The Making of Beast Games, is presented by Jon Youshaei and is released concurrently to the season's episodes except for during episode 7's release.