MLB 2K12 Expands Perfect Game Contest to Feature Eight Person Tournament

The first two years of the $1 million Perfect Game Challenge have for all intents and purposes ended on the first day but that is much less likely to occur with MLB 2K12. Now it will be the “top ranked” (whatever that means – but it isn’t the “first”) eight to accomplish the feat from April 4th through the end of that month will be slotted into a live tournament taking place in New York for the ultimate prize. That should also help to eliminate the embarrassment of having someone who doesn’t know anything about baseball or have ever played the series win yet again by adding a competitive element rather than all falling on efforts to exploit the CPU AI. 

The contest represents the main marketing hook for the series which loses $35-40 million every year of the exclusive third party contract and will likely come to an end after 2K12. It’s a relatively cheap way – especially considering the payout is largely covered by insurance – to maximize publicity for the game and scrape up some additional sales from those who solely want to try and win the money rather than have genuine interest in the product. Considering the two winners fall into that category it shows that even with poor sales there is a potential consumer base to tap into particularly on the Xbox 360 where the series faces no direct competition.

By expanding the pool of potential winners and reducing the strict requirements (including the need to videotape everything) that makes the contest a more accessible one to take part in. Many people have shrugged it off in the past two years figuring the chances of getting it done on day one was slim to none – especially those who work and can’t spend all day making attempts. It’s just surprising that it took until this year to enact something along these lines.