Mountain Dew and gamers are one of those combinations that makes too much sense. It’s like peanut butter and jelly, or peanut butter and chocolate. This citrus-flavored concoction was incrementally developed by several individuals before PepsiCo acquired the rights.
The taste, and combination of high-fructose corn syrup and caffeine, made it a hit with gamers who used it to fuel extended gaming sessions. PepsiCo, recognizing this, has made sure to promote the radioactive green drink with several games over the years.
Mountain Dew Game Fuel promotions
2004 – The Mountain Dew Xbox
20 years ago, Microsoft and Mountain Dew came together in an unholy union to create the Limited Edition Mountain Dew Xbox. During the promotion, folks would need to accrue 550 points through Mountain Dew to unlock the option of purchasing the console for $100. While the total number of consoles produced is unknown, there’s an active subreddit trying to track down each one.
2005 – Every10Minutes
Continuing its partnership with Microsoft, Mountain Dew launched the Every10Minutes promotion. Participants would earn points by purchasing PepsiCo products which would then be tied to an account on the official site. Then, every 10 minutes (hence the name), they could use those points to bid on the then-unreleased Xbox 360.
2006 – G4
Leaning more into the Mountain Dew Game Fuel branding, PepsiCo teamed up with DirecTV and G4 for a Championship Gaming Invitational. Additionally, participants in the event could win Mountain Dew’s “Wall of Cash” which contained “about a million dollars.”
2007 – Game Fuel is born
Mountain Dew and gamers hit it off big with the Halo 3 collaboration in 2007. This was the first incarnation of Game Fuel and would become the staple flavor moving forward. Bungie would work with several other companies to promote the title, including 7-Eleven, Burger King, and NASCAR.
2009 – Horde or Alliance?
Mountain Dew tapped another massively popular title in 2009, World of Warcraft. From what I remember and what I can dig up, there wasn’t anything specific being promoted as Wrath of the Lich King was released in 2008 and Cataclysm wouldn’t hit until 2010. Either way, I loved Alliance Blue and definitely remember having a 12-pack in the fridge while bopping around Northrend.
- World of Warcraft – Horde Red (Citrus Cherry)
- World of Warcraft – Alliance Blue (Wild Fruit)
2011 – Somehow, the Dallas Cowboys get involved
While Halo 3 and World of Warcraft were respectable choices for promotions, 2011 put the feather in Mountain Dew’s cap. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and its retinue seemed the perfect market for the sugary drink. In an effort to entice them further, the two companies would reward players with Double XP in-game by redeeming codes. Thanks to Mountain Dew, you could watch your Prestige Level and blood sugar levels rise to unfathomable heights.
To sweeten the deal, Mountain Dew and Activision teamed up with the Dallas Cowboys to fly the winners of their Mega Fan Experience contest down to the stadium where they played the shooter on a 160’x72′ screen from the 50-yard line. In a hallmark of the time, “As an added bonus, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were practicing during most of the gaming session.”
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Citrus Cherry
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Tropical
2012 – Halo again, friend of a friend
With Bungie having negotiated the Halo franchise for its freedom from Microsoft, the latter partnered with Mountain Dew once again for 343 Industries’ first main series entry, Halo 4. This saw the return of the classic citrus cherry drink in addition to an iOS title, Halo 4: King of the Hill.
Much like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Halo 4 players could enjoy Double XP by redeeming codes from various Mountain Dew products. In an interesting interview with the then-Marketing Manager for Mountain Dew, Forbes was able to get some insight on the promotion.
- Halo 4 – Citrus Cherry
2013 – Fewer minutes
2013 had the soft drink partnering with Microsoft’s gaming platform directly once again to promote the release of the Xbox One. Much like 2005’s Every10Minutes, participants could bid points collected from Mountain Dew purchases in the Every2Minutes auctions. The staple citrus cherry flavor was joined by a new flavor, electrifying berry, to promote the new console and four titles.
- Dead Rising 3 – Citrus Cherry
- Forza Motorsport 5 – Citrus Cherry
- Kinect Sports Rivals – Electrifying Berry
- Ryse: Son of Rome – Electrifying Berry
2014 – Dew and Doritos
Having weathered the storm for years, citrus cherry became a permanent flavor in 2014. With the release of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, its packaging was updated for the promotion and a companion flavor, lemonade, was released. Additionally, players could collect points from Mountain Dew and Doritos purchases to unlock in-game items via the “Fuel Up for Battle” campaign.
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Citrus Cherry
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Lemonade
2015 – Zombies
Mountain Dew stayed on the Call of Duty train for the release of Black Ops III. Rather than earn in-game gear like the previous year, participants could unlock Double XP for the Zombies mode through the “Fuel Up for Battle” campaign. The lemonade flavor failed to reappear in favor of berry lime.
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Citrus Cherry
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III – Berry Lime
2016 – Head to B-Dubs
While Titanfall 2 might be more fondly remembered for its surprisingly gripping campaign (I love you, BT-7274), it was also a Mountain Dew partner. Citrus cherry was joined by mango heat for the promotion. Players could earn codes for nose art for their Titans in addition to Coliseum Tickets (the currency for the 1v1 Pilot-only duels) by purchasing Mountain Dew or hitting up the nearest Buffalo Wild Wings.
- Titanfall 2 – Citrus Cherry
- Titanfall 2 – Mango Heat
2017 – Gone in 60 Seconds
Every60Seconds, the third iteration of Mountain Dew’s bidding system, returned with participants bidding points for a chance at an Xbox One X every 60 seconds. The tie-in titles for the promotion, Middle-earth: Shadow of War and Forza Motorsport 7, didn’t feature any in-game rewards.
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War – Arctic Burst
- Forza Motorsport 7 – Tropical Smash
2023 – Diablo gets involved
Mountain Dew came back to its longtime partner Microsoft in 2023 for the promotion of Halo Infinite and the recently acquired Blizzard Activision Diablo IV. In the now familiar setup, participants purchased products for codes to redeem for points for in-game cosmetics for Halo Infinite. As for Diablo IV, the in-game cosmetics were branded as the Amethyst Weapon Cosmetics.
- Halo Infinite – Citrus Cherry
- Diablo IV – Mystic Punch
2024 – Mountain Zu
In 2024, Square Enix dug too deep in the mines of cross-promotion and invoked Mountain Dew for the upcoming Final Fantasy XIV expansion, Dawntrail. Participants can purchase Mountain Dew and redeem the codes for points and spend them on things like licensed Puma apparel and in-game mounts.
- Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
Green Label Gaming
In 2007, Mountain Dew created Green Label Gaming. The organization sponsored both players and developers in addition to covering games on its site.
The soft drink giant would go on to produce a 30-minute television special in 2008 for Spike TV known as “The Next Great Gaming Gods.” In it, Geoff Keighley traveled the United States and Japan to meet with various game designers. Mountain Dew then sponsored a limited number of free downloads of the featured designers’ titles.
In 2009, Green Label Gaming helped sponsor two gaming events, IGF (Independent Games Festival) and GDC (Game Developers Conference).
In what appears to be the last major sponsored gaming event by Green Label Gaming in 2014, Green Label Game Jam was a four-day event with the intention of developers competing for prizes. For a multitude of reasons, this YouTube reality show fell apart rapidly and left PepsiCo with a black eye.
