The Complete History of Game Fuel
Almost 10 years ago in 2007, Mountain Dew Game Fuel (Citrus Cherry) was released. I would like to write this post explaining the whole history of the Game Fuel promotion as well as expressing my opinions on each flavor.
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2007
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On the video game console Xbox 360, the third installment in the popular series Halo was about to release. PepsiCo asked Microsoft if they could make a deal to promote the new game. Pepsi decided to make a whole new flavor line of Mountain Dew called Game Fuel. The first flavor called Citrus Cherry was released in August for a 12 week period. During this time it was also released as a freeze form in 7-Elevens. I did not drink Mountain Dew at that time.
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2009
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Game Fuel was absent during 2008, probably because of the DEWmocracy promotion. Pepsi brought back the Game Fuel line with a new flavor, Wild Fruit, and brought back Citrus Cherry. This time, the promoted video game was World of Warcraft (WoW). The two flavors had nicknames, Citrus Cherry was "Horde Red," and Wild Fruit was "Alliance Blue." This is when I started to drink Dew, but I don't think I ever had Wild Fruit.
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2011
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Game Fuel was probably skipped again in 2010 becuase of DEWmocracy 2. In 2011, the Back by Popular DEWmand promotion included 3 discontinued flavors, Pitch Black, Supernova, and Typhoon. With those discontinued flavors brought back, demand (or DEWmand haha) increased for Game Fuel to come back. Many rumors spread, but then an e-Bay auction was spotted containing the fan favorite Citrus Cherry, with an unidentified companion. The auction ended on August 17, with the winning bid at $49.00 (plus $5.65 shipping charges). A week later, those two flavors were confirmed by Mountain Dew. The two flavors were released in October and promoted the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The companion this year was Tropical flavor, dark green in color. This was the first year that the caps on the bottles contained codes for Dew XP that granted players double experience points in-game. This year would start a streak, with each year containing a Game Fuel promotion.
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2012
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This year, Citrus Cherry was released without a companion. It was promoting the video game Halo 4. This was the second year with the Dew XP caps, and this was the first year ever that I had Citrus Cherry. From that point on, it has been on my top 10 favorites of all time lists. But Game Fuel that year was not only in the United States. In the UK, they would be getting their own flavor with a Raspberry-Citrus taste. It would also promote the new game Halo 4.
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2013
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In July 2013, several fans were given the chance of try a "Goji Strawberry" Mountain Dew. By August 2013, final label designs for this flavor and Citrus Cherry had been created. Electrifying Berry debuted in October 2013 until the end of that year. This is the first other Game Fuel variant I tried other than Citrus Cherry. I thought that it was better than most flavors at the time, like Baja Blast and Code Red. Now since I haven't had it in 3 years, it's probably my 14th favorite of all time. The video games that it promote were Ryse: Son of Rome, Dead Rising 3, and Kinect Sports Rivals.
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2014
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Out of no where, Citrus Cherry began to pop up in areas without a game to promote and nothing to indicate that it was limited time only, and no information was released by PepsiCo about this. In October, Game Fuel Lemonade was released with fan favorite Citrus Cherry once again. This time it was used to promote Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Lemonade was the only Game Fuel I hated, and it's actually the worst flavor I've ever had.
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2015
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In May 2015, the Mountain Dew Amazon store was released with Citrus Cherry being sold in 15-packs of 16 oz. bottles. Codes included with these 16 oz. bottle caps would unlock rewards in the PlayStation game Warframe. On May 20, 2015, images were posted on Instagram of the new Game Fuel variant. In October, Game Fuel Berry Lime was released along with Citrus Cherry. This year it was used to promote the next Call of Duty, Black Ops 3. Berry Lime is one of my favorite flavors of all time, and my favorite Game Fuel flavor.
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2016
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In May 2016, the newest Game Fuel flavor was leaked with Citrus Cherry, It was a lighter orange color, and I thought it would be and orange flavor, but it turns out that it was mango. Citrus Cherry and Mango Heat were released in October to promote Titanfall 2. However, this time the worst thing happened. PepsiCo cut the calories, and added artificial sweeteners, such as Ace K and sucralose. Mango Heat isn't my favorite flavor, and it's not the best Game Fuel either, in fact I hated it when I first tried it in a bottle. I then tried it in a can and for some odd reason it tasted more natural, which really it isn't.
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Thank you for reading this post, and every year I will update it with the newest flavors, and I will add things I missed if I did. This took my so long to type, so I would appreciate it if you could share this anywhere, and leave a comment below.
