TOGETHER WITH

It’s Thursday and Bridgerton fans will soon be able to waltz their way through Netflix House, an “experiential entertainment venue” coming to Texas and Pennsylvania in 2025.

HEAD IN THE GAME

Watch out, Prime: MrBeast is breaking into the beverage biz

Oh, and he’s also launching his own mobile game.

The context: Jimmy Donaldson might be killing it in the snack department, but the man known as MrBeast hasn’t always had the best luck with consumables—and that’s exactly how we know he’s giving the biz another shot.

• Last year, Donaldson sued Virtual Dining Concepts (aka his MrBeast Burger partner) on the grounds that VDC had harmed his personal brand by prioritizing expansion over quality. Now, a court filing from that very case has revealed the YouTuber’s plan to launch both a beverage brand and a mobile game.

The brands: That upcoming title (which will be monetized with a mix of in-app purchases and ads) isn’t Donaldson’s first dive into gaming. The YouTuber has been actively involved in developing MrBeast-themed challenges in Top Troops and Stumble Guys, two games that have proven to be extremely popular with social media-savvy Gen Zers (a demographic MrBeast already has a strong hold on).

Digging deeper: Those factors make Donaldson’s transition into gaming a natural next step, but it’s harder to see how “Beast Beverages” fits into the equation. While creators like Emma Chamberlain have successfully partnered with existing beverage brands or launched their own, MrBeast already has a strong presence in the consumables sector.

• So, why now? Donaldson’s latest move into consumables comes at a time when one of the most successful creator hydration brands, Logan Paul and KSI’s Prime, has hit a slump.
  
  

• MrBeast could be hoping to capitalize on an opening in the market—but with his main YouTube channel recently scoring over 1 billion weekly views and an Amazon Prime show on the horizon, we’re guessing Beast Beverages already has all the advantages it needs to make a splash in supermarkets.

🔆 SPONSORED 🔆

VidCon Anaheim is only one week away. Here are 3 panels you won’t want to miss—courtesy of Viral Nation:

VidCon is almost here and that means it’s time to start planning out your itinerary. Check out these 3 can’t-miss Community Track panels, featuring top talent from Viral Nation:

😂 Funny Business 😂 
June 27 @ 10.00AM PT
Connect with the masters of digital comedy as they break down the lightbulb moments behind their funniest ideas, the inspiration that fuels their funny bone, and how they keep their punchlines fresh to stand out from the crowd.
Featuring: Charlotte Dobre, Steven Ho, Arianna Hailey, and more.

🏳️‍🌈 Beyond the Binary 🏳️‍⚧️
June 28 @ 10.30AM PT
Engage with creators who transcend the gender binary as they share how their journey to self discovery has resonated with audiences and inspired them to embrace their authenticity.
Featuring: Naomi Hearts, Grace Stanley, Spencewuah, and more.

⏰ The Young & The Restless ⏰
June 29 @ 2.00PM PT
Listen in as young creators come together to talk about what the role of work-life balance looks like when you’re busy being a kid and building a career as a content creator at the same time.
Featuring: Like Nastya, Kira Kosarin, Merrick Hanna, and more.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• TikTok is coming for Instagram. The Bytedance-owned platform has quietly launched Whee, a new app that lets users share photos among close friends. (Tubefilter)
  
  

• In a statement released Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission announced that it had “uncovered reason to believe” that TikTok and its parent company are “violating or are about to violate the law.” (Gizmodo)
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• Despite setbacks, Elon Musk is reportedly still pushing to launch payment services on X by the end of 2024. (Ars Technica)
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• A new open-source tool from AI startup ElevenLabs is designed to help video creators generate sound effect samples in “about 15 seconds.” (VentureBeat)

DATA • GLOBAL TOP 50 📈

Global Top 50: This “new school” YouTube star just passed 40 billion views

The break-out star: Alan Chikin Chow is the master of his own universe. Since launching his YouTube channel in 2020, the Shorts star has concocted an immersive world of pink-and-blue classrooms, violet-hued lockers, and high school drama.

• That whimsical academic setting alone has earned the comedian’s short-form series plenty of fans—but it’s not the only reason Alan’s Universe has managed to “inspire a universal audience.” By limiting dialogue and sticking to strictly family-friendly content, Alan Chikin Chow has made his channel accessible to viewers from all age groups and corners of the globe.

The stats: That strategy has propelled Alan Chikin Chow to greater and greater heights over the last four years. When we spoke to him in 2021, the creator claimed about 7 million subscribers; now, his channel has amassed more than 46 million.

• That growing popularity frequently secures Alan Chikin Chow spots in both the Global and U.S. Top 5. This week, the comedian is sitting at #5 in the world charts thanks to a seven-day total of 671.2 million weekly views.
  
  

• That whopping sum adds up to a week-over-week traffic increase of 37%.
  
  

• The result: Alan Chikin Chow’s channel recently soared past 40 billion lifetime views.

Check out our full Global Top 50 list here for more data on chart-toppers and rising hubs.

WATCH THIS 📺

Snap just posted a sneak peek of its real-time image model

The prototype: Snap is holding its own in the AI race. On Tuesday, the Snapchat parent company posted a preview of a real-time image model that it says “can instantly bring your imagination to life in AR.”

• The ability to run GenAI models “in real-time on mobile devices” could be a major asset to AR creators. Snap says it plans to make a new GenAI suite available to creators through Lens Studio—meaning devs will soon be able to power their Lenses with time-saving “custom models.”
  
  

• Check out video clips of Snap’s new AR experiences here.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.e