YouTube sensation Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, has finally got the Play Button for becoming the first individual content creator to surpass 400 million subscribers on his main YouTube channel. Social media is obsessed with the shiny new trophy, and not for good reasons.
MrBeast made history on June 1, 2025, by hitting 400 million subscribers, lugging a massive lead over T-Series, which has around 299 million subscribers. T-Series is the second most-subscribed channel overall. At that time, he took to social media to express his gratitude, writing, “400,000,000 subscribers! A decade ago before I blew up everyone in my life told me I was to obsessed and constantly told I’d never make it. Despite that I was in love with making content and grinded every moment my eyes were open for 7 years before anyone started watching. I literally told my mom I’d rather be homeless than do anything else. The greatest gift in life is being able to wake up everyday with a purpose and thanks to YouTube and you guys, I have that. Thanks for 400M.”
On Tuesday, MrBeast shared a picture of himself getting the special first-ever Play Button from YouTube CEO Neal Mohan. Posting the happy moment on his Instagram, MrBeast wrote, “400,000,000 Subscriber Play Button! Thank you YouTube (heart emoji).”
Interestingly, it is a custom-made YouTube play button as MrBeast is the first YouTuber ever to reach 400 million subscribers. The award is one-of-a-kind, crafted from polished metal and featuring a striking blue stone in the middle.
The picture of MrBeast’s 400 million subscriber Play Button sparked a flurry of comments online, with many fans voicing their opinions about the trophy’s design – and some were left feeling underwhelmed.
“YouTube should come up with a new design,” one wrote, with another sharing, ‘Now they have to make new play buttons only for Jimmy.”
Discussion also started on Reddit with a post title reading, “Mr Beast just got his 400 Mil Subscribers Playbutton. What’s your thought on the playbutton? I personally think it could’ve been entirely different from the previous models. This looks like they made one just for the sake of it.”
“It’s just a 10 millions button with the center painted in blue,” one noted, and another shared, “You know it’s bad when they are getting lazy on the design of awards.”
“It’s not painted, that looks like it’s carved from lapis lazuli or azurite,” read one comment. Another social media user shared, “That’s nice for him. Unfortunately the play button don’t even look that special in my opinion.”
“Remember when YouTube gold button actually had a golden YouTube logo in middle? Now it’s just a lame yellow painted board,” posted one, with one writing, “AI generated Playbutton.”
Some time back, MrBeast made headlines for daring T-Series‘ CEO Bhushan Kumar to fight a match against him in a boxing ring. Last year, Bhushan Kumar and MrBeast shared a video with each other where they decided to subscribe to each other on YouTube.
