YouTube superstar MrBeast opens pop-up park in Saudi Arabia

MrBeast, the world's most followed YouTuber with over 450 million subscribers, 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.

"Beast Land", open from November 13 to December 27, features several obstacle course-like challenges similar to those that appear in his popular videos where contestants compete for massive paydays.

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.

"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," he added.

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 followers across his social media platforms than there are people in the United States, the 27-year-old influencer, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has built a digital empire over the years thanks to his prodigious output of content often featuring contests and challenges.

With more than 75 per cent of Saudis under 35 years of age, the kingdom is the perfect playground for influencers like MrBeast, whose content is mostly watched by children and young people.

Smartphone market penetration in the kingdom stands at over 98 per cent, while internet penetration stands at nearly 98 per cent, both well above the global average, according to PwC.

Saudis rank "among the most avid media consumers in the world" according to the consultancy.

Human rights groups accuse the kingdom of inviting international stars and "art-washing" to obscure its poor human rights record, including a high rate of executions.

In 2023, Time magazine named MrBeast one of the world's most influential people.

That same year, Forbes put his net worth at around half a billion dollars.

Saudi Arabia has been building multiple leisure and entertainment attractions, including Qiddiya near Riyadh, billed as an "entertainment city" of theme parks and a motorsports racetrack.