MrBeast's 'Squid Game' remake shows how much it takes to create a hit YouTube video these days

Not everything has to be as feel-good as a Marvel superhero movie to become a global cultural hit. When "Squid Game" first splashed across Netflix viewers' screens in September, the Korean-language show's fictional story started with 456 desperate, heavily indebted contestants being invited to participate in a mysterious competition that takes place on a private island. The winner of a series of children's games gets a massive cash prize. The losers face death as wealthy VIPs watch.

This morbid creative formula was a winning one for Netflix. Part "Hunger Games," part "Battle Royale" and part "Parasite," the nine-episode project featured a magnetic cast, plus just enough demented bloodshed to attract viewers who might be less interested in the show's unsubtle critique of capitalism. Netflix said 142 million households watched the show in its first four weeks — the largest launch in the service's history.

But if you've spent time recently on one of Netflix's biggest screen-time competitors — YouTube —