BoardroomPR’s Florida PR professionals worked with famed e-sports legend Billy Mitchell on publicizing the reinstatement of his five Pac-Man and Donkey Kong world records in a national public relations campaign that spanned print, online, TV and trade media. For over 40 years, Mitchell, a South Florida native, has dominated the arcade gaming world with record performances in games such as Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, BurgerTime, and Centipede. Most notably he is known for being the first player to achieve a perfect score in Pac-Man and the first player to achieve a 1,000,000-point score in Donkey Kong.

In 2018, the validity of these world records was challenged by the successor owner of Twin Galaxies, a company known for the record keeping in the arcade gaming world. Labeled as a cheater, Mitchell’s records were soon rescinded, removed from the Twin Galaxies website and Guinness Book of World Records. To seek justice, Mitchell took matters into his own hands and commenced an investigation of his own, featuring supporting witnesses including a fellow world record holder, game company execs and engineers, and the original owner of Twin Galaxies. All agreed that his records were legitimate. Mitchell also took it upon himself to recreate all his key records in front of live audiences to put an exclamation point on how he felt about having his honesty questioned. 

On June 18, 2020, Billy Mitchell regained his titles as the most decorated arcade gamer of our time. Guinness World Records announced the reinstatement of his five Pac-Man and Donkey Kong world records and two important firsts, based on its review of new and existing evidence as well as additional expert testimony. The records appear below.

Billy Mitchell’s World Records

• 3 July 1999 – First Perfect Score on Pac-Man – 3,333,360 Points
• 7 November 1982 – Highest score on Donkey Kong – 874,300 Points
• 4 June 2005 – Highest score on Donkey Kong – 1,047,200 Points
• 14 July 2007 – Highest score on Donkey Kong – 1,050,200 Points
• 31 July 2010 – Highest score on Donkey Kong – 1,062,800 Points

“With a perfectly laid out plan of attack, we were able to gain media coverage for the reinstatement of Billy’s scores locally and nationally”

Daniel Benjamin
Senior Account Executive

Boardroom PR Sr. Account Executive Daniel Benjamin, Creative Director Felipe Calderon, and COO Don Silver worked on the crisis communications and proactive PR campaign with both Billy Mitchell Sr. and his son, West point Cadet Billy Mitchell, Jr.  In addition to media relations, BoardroomPR shot and edited a custom video, photo-shoot, and managed online reputation management for the Mitchells.  “With a perfectly laid out plan of attack, we were able to gain media coverage for the reinstatement of Billy’s scores locally and nationally,” said Benjamin.  Our well-written press release and distribution plan generated media coverage in all the major gaming magazines, blogs and portals, national news outlets like the Associated Press and ESPN and locally with the Sun Sentinel and Channel 10 News.