“The first thing I'm going to do is buy a new fridge.” Those are the words of Louisiana high school teacher Brian Kingrey – winner of the second annual Major League Baseball 2K11 Million Dollar "Perfect Game" Challenge.
The rules seemed simple enough to Kingrey; be the first person to pitch a “Perfect Game” and win one million dollars. It was enough motivation for the 25-year old avid gamer to stop by his local GameStop, trade in his favorite video game (Marvel vs. Capcom 3), and pick up MLB 2K11 – a sport that Kingrey admittedly did not even know the rules to.
After reviewing the matchups, studying the teams, and learning the controls, Kingrey was ready. He determined his best chance of winning the competition was to pitch as the Philadelphia Phillies’ ace Roy Halladay against the Houston Astros. Nine-innings later, Kingrey was a millionaire.
Congratulations are in order for Kingrey – but also for the marketing minds at 2K Sports. Over the years, their sales figures consistently finished second to rival Sony’s MLB: The Show. Last year, 2K Sports introduced the “Perfect Game” Challenge and sold 1.09 million copies, while Sony saw sales drop to just over a million units according to Forbes.com. It is still too early to gauge the effectiveness of this year’s promotion, but with a great story like Kingrey’s receiving national attention it’s hard to believe that 2K Sports will be any less successful this season.
Pete DeLuca is Manager of Creative Services at Maroon PR. Contact him at Pete@MaroonPR.com
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