MLB 2K12's $1 Million Perfect Game Contest announced

2K Sports has announced its 1$ Million Perfect Game Challenge promotion for Major League Baseball 2K12, and this year it's making digital pitchers work for their payday.

Starting April 4, 2012, players will have an opportunity fire up MLB 2K12's Perfect Game Challenge mode and attempt to pitch a “27 up, 27 down” match wherein none of the opposing team ever reaches first base by any means throughout the entire game. If successful, they will receive a code that must be submitted online in order to validate the perfect game and qualify them for consideration in the finals.

Yup, you read that right, slackers--no more “first come first serve”. This year, 2K Sports will be working with developer Visual Concepts to track everyone who pitches a perfect game through a dynamic leaderboard, and inviting the top ranking entrants to an eight-man live tournament to determine the true winner of the million dollar prize. Players will have all of April to improve upon their leadboard standings, however 2K Sports has not revealed how exactly it will rank the perfect games. We're guessing the final score will be a major factor, but with a million bucks on the line it'll likely be a little more complicated than that.

Details of that final game will be posted at a later date on MLB 2K12's Facebook page.

“We’re thrilled to introduce several new twists that can only take the contest to the next level of competitive excitement and open it up to more people,” said 2K Sports rep Jason Argent in the release. “The contest has been incredibly popular the past two years, but there’s always room for improvement. We listened to user feedback and made participation more fun and accessible than ever before.”

This is the third year 2K Sports has run its $1 Million Perfect Game Challenge. Last year's prize went to Louisiana resident Brian Kingrey, and 2010's pot went to Alabama gamer Wade McGilberry. You can start practicing to be the next member of “The Perfect Club” when MLB 2K12 arrives for all major consoles on March 6.