After watching contestants hold their fingers together on a phone screen for over 70 hours, YouTube creator Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson called the early end of a massive competition originally designed with a winner and $ 25,000 prize in mind. The result? Four winners, each with $ 20,000 in hand.
Donaldson’s “Finger on the App” was a one-time game designed in association with the Internet collective MSCHF. The rules were simple: be the last person to take your finger off a phone screen and win $ 25,000. The game started at 3 p.m. ET on June 30 and lasted until Donaldson called to end the madness on Twitter at 1:15 p.m. ET today.
“Dear the remaining four contestants with your finger still on the app, I’m finishing it here,” Donaldson tweeted. “Three days is crazy! ALL of you win and EVERYONE will receive $ 20,000. CONGRATULATIONS!”
Despite Donaldson’s calls for the players to “go to sleep,” a couple of contestants continued. One player argued in a live broadcast that Donaldson’s tweet could be a trick; If three of the last four players removed their fingers, the last person standing could win $ 25,000. Another member of the last four had his game disconnected.
A couple of players said they tweeted Donaldson asking about next steps because they were confused. Donaldson later tweeted that he was able to get two “of the $ 20,000 winners in one phone call.” A follow-up tweet from Donaldson confirmed that “all four winners have been contacted and will receive their money.”
“I’m glad a robot didn’t win,” Donaldson tweeted.
Donaldson also said that many people claimed to have won, but that his team “confirmed the real winners through the backend and they were all contacted.” At least one person on a live broadcast who claimed to have been in the final group said they had not received a call from Donaldson. The edge MSCHF and Donaldson have been contacted for more information.
On the last day, Donaldson started offering some of the remaining players thousands of dollars to stick their finger out of the app. Two players removed their fingers from the app on July 2 for $ 5,000 each, according to Donaldson’s tweets, and two other players removed their fingers today for $ 10,000 each.
Donaldson has made a name for himself on YouTube for similar videos. In the past three years, Donaldson has filmed videos about making large donations or presenting challenges that allow friends and strangers new homes and cars. His channel shot up under the new format. Donaldson gave his mother $ 100,000, bought a home for his best friend, opened pop-up stores where visitors could buy expensive electronics at a low price, and bought car buyers a vehicle of their choice after taking over a dealer, practically giving away all the cars.
Before the launch of the game, Donaldson spoke to The edge about the expectations that both his team and MSCHF had for the game. The application was prepared to contain “millions of concurrent players”, with more than 1 million players in the first hour. Having so many players in one game at a time carries some concerns.
Donaldson was especially interested in “making sure someone couldn’t just tape their hands to the phone,” he said. The edge at the time. This required players to occasionally move their fingers in specific ways, he said. Donaldson also acknowledged that much of it is out of his control, but it was that chaotic element that most excited him.
“I think the beauty of the game is that we really don’t have control,” said Donaldson. “It really depends on the people who play and see who lasts the longest, and I think the main thing was to keep the game fair.”
In the end, it became clear that Donaldson wanted to control the game a bit to make sure the contestants finally got some sleep.
