Mountain Dew – MMO Fallout

Want to hear a joke? I pre-ordered energy drinks. Want to hear a bigger joke? They botched it.

Last month I talked about how Walmart partnered with Ubisoft and Mountain Dew to offer pre-orders for Mountain Dew Game Fuel, an energy drink that came out on store shelves this month. For $20 you could get a 12 pack of the assorted flavors and the pack came with a Division 2 box of tchotchkes and early access to the Division 2 beta. How could this possibly go wrong? It’s soda.

To be fair, I found out that the box is actually a good deal if you like sugary energy drinks since for $20 you get a 12 pack and stores in my area are selling the individual cans for $3 apiece, which would set you back $36 for the equivalent amount. I honestly forgot about this whole ordeal since I never received an email from Walmart that the order shipped, and dealing with a funeral over the past week completely tossed it out of my memory that the soda was supposed to ship on January 14.

I never received my soda, but the beta code came through fine and so did the box of stuff. I did get an email from Walmart confirming that my case is on backorder, so not only is 2019 the year that the energy drink industry adopts pre-orders from game developers, it also takes on screwing up people’s pre-orders. I’ve been on Twitter and various social media websites and there are a fair number of other people who haven’t received their orders, or for whom Walmart lost their orders entirely. Congrats, you’re the Mighty No. 9 of energy drinks.

The goodies included in the box are an assortment of tchotchkes including a screwdriver, an odd whistle/compass/light, a hat, and an 8gig dog tag drive that appears to be breaking for some people with the connector not pulling out. Honestly I thought that if anything would go wrong with this order it would be the whole beta code being distributed properly. But Walmart proved me wrong, and the thing I actually wanted to buy is now not coming.

Walmart explained in the email that if they can’t get my order by MARCH 8 then it will be cancelled and refunded. Two months for Walmart to track down twelve cans of Mountain Dew, I hope they can pull it off.

Let this be a lesson; don’t pre-order energy drinks.

Technically we’re still in 2018, but this product doesn’t come out until 2019 so I’m going to use that tag anyway. 2019, the year I can use whatever tag I want.

In case you thought it was bad enough that Ubisoft was partnering with Totinos to promote their games, well they’ve gone further down the rabbit hole. Ubisoft has teamed up with Mountain Dew and Walmart, because of course they have, and they have put out a deal that no reasonable consumer could think to refuse. All you have to do is be one of the first thousand people to pre-order a 12 count case of Mountain Dew Game Fuel from Walmart and you’ll receive not just the energy drink (all twelve of them) but you also get beta access to The Division 2 as well as a bonus prize pack.

Codes for PRIVATE BETA access and instructions on how to register will be sent out by Ubisoft via email to the e-mail address provided when you preordered the MTN DEW® AMP® GAME FUEL® 12 pack. Timing of distribution of code and instructions is at Ubisofts sole discretion. PRIVATE BETA access is limited to one per customer email address. Ubisoft will communicate game launch information at a later date. Receiving a PRIVATE BETA access code upon purchasing MTN DEW® AMP® GAME FUEL® is only open to legal residents of the United States, its territories or possessions where offer is available and who are the age of majority in their state of resident at time of entry. PRIVATE BETA access offer subject to additional terms and conditions available at http://www.thedivisiongame.com/gamefuel. Void where prohibited.

The bonus prize pack contains a dog tag, whistle, light, compass keychain, baseball hat, and an eight in one aluminum tool kit. Photograph below. Mountain Dew’s Game Fuel cans are equipped with resealable tech, are scientifically loaded with sugar and caffeine for accuracy and alertness, and tactile grip. They also come in cherry, berry, tropical, and original. Beta access is only open to US residents, but anyone can enjoy the crisp taste of a fresh Mountain Dew no matter where they live.

LVL UP THE GAME.