MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete is Justin Verlander

[Neolithic]

Justin Verlander has been chosen as the MLB 2K12 cover athlete. He was chosen at the Player's Choice Awards.

ESPN has posted an interview with him, right here.

2K Sports Names Detroit Tigers’ Pitcher, Justin Verlander,
as Cover Athlete for Major League Baseball® 2K12

Leading Candidate for American League Cy Young and Most Valuable Player Awards

New York, NY – November 4, 2011 – 2K Sports announced today that Justin Verlander, ace pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, has been named the cover athlete for the upcoming video game Major League Baseball® 2K12, the next iteration of the popular Major League Baseball 2K series. Verlander was selected yesterday by his peers as the Players Choice Award winner for Player of the Year and American League Outstanding Pitcher.

“It’s a dream come true to be on the cover of Major League Baseball 2K12,” said Verlander, who pitched the second no-hitter of his career this season. “I’ve worked closely with 2K Sports on the MLB 2K series since 2007, and I couldn’t be more excited to continue my relationship with such a great baseball game.”

Only the thirteenth pitcher in baseball history to throw multiple no-hitters and the first Detroit Tiger to win 20 games since 1991, Verlander pitched the Tigers to an AL Central title and into the 2011 American League Championship Series. Verlander is favored to win the American League Cy Young Award for pitching excellence during the 2011 season, and could even become the first pitcher since 1992 to win the Most Valuable Player Award.

“Justin’s amazing performance this season speaks for itself,” added Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports. “Between his second career no-hitter and leading the league in virtually every pitching category, I can’t think of anyone else but Justin Verlander to serve as the face of Major League Baseball 2K12.”

Developed by 2K Sports’ Visual Concepts studio, Major League Baseball 2K12 is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available this March for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, the Wii™ system from Nintendo, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, Nintendo DS™and Windows PC.

For more information on 2K Sports, visit http://www.2KSports.com.

2K Sports is a division of 2K, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

[BlackBetty15]

Re: MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete Revealed at Players Choice Awards, Nov. 3rd (Who Will it B

It is official like neolithic said...its the Verlander machine that will hopefully be the symbol of a good game this year...even though Nelson Cruz hammered his 100 MPH FB over the fence! LOL

[econoodle]

Re: MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete Revealed at Players Choice Awards, Nov. 3rd (Who Will it B

He earned the cover.
He was Justin-credible this year.
lets hope the game is as well!

[DJ]

Re: MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete Revealed at Players Choice Awards, Nov. 3rd (Who Will it B

Makes sense to go with a pitcher since the marketing is built towards throwing a Perfect Game. Verlander certainly deserved to be on the cover of one of the two games with the year he had.

[42]

Justin Verlander Announced as MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete

@JustinVerlander

Announcement: Excited to be cover athlete for @2KSports #MLB2K12. Dream come true and can't wait for the March release

[Artman22]

Re: Justin Verlander Announced as MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete

Good pick IMO. I would have preferred Pujols, but Verlander is a beast.

[Artman22]

Re: MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete Revealed at Players Choice Awards, Nov. 3rd (Who Will it B

2k has never released the cover athlete for mlb this early before correct?

[rudyjuly2]

Re: Justin Verlander Announced as MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete

Great pick. One of the top players and a very exciting one to watch.

[truintellectplaya]

Damn, so they are staying with this stale marketing campaign

[jeffy777]

Re: MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete Revealed at Players Choice Awards, Nov. 3rd (Who Will it B

2k has never released the cover athlete for mlb this early before correct?

Looks like they announced it last year November 15th, so it is a bit earlier than normal. Hopefully that's a good sign as far as their marketing goes (always seems to be late).

[rudyjuly2]

Re: MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete is Justin Verlander

2K wastes the wrong kind of money on marketing. They better not throw a million dollars down the toilet with the perfect game contest again. Their sales have dropped each of the last two years and were pathetic. They also wasted a lot of money on a stupid RV that went around the country trying to promote the game. Spend some money on simple internet advertising and use the extra money for additional patches which are needed. It's tough to market a game that you have rushed out the door with a lot of glitches and bugs the last couple years.

[gilla]

No surprise there, as He's the obvious choice with the perfect game marketing campaign.

[stlstudios189]

wow a Cleveland Brown on the cover of Madden and a Detroit Tiger on MLB 2k11 my 2 favorite teams represent baby.

[GlennN]

Fascinating. Wake me when they tell us something that might make me consider whether or not I would buy the game. Hey, I know release is several months away, and I don't expect any previews still for a few months, but, c'mon, who gives a rats *** who is on a cover? If I want a picture of an athlete, I'll buy a poster. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I have never cared in the least who (if anyone) is on the cover of a videogame. If 2k paid more for having him on a cover, and I assume they did, to me, that's a waste of resources. I'd rather see improvement in the game. But, that's just me.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: MLB 2K12 Cover Athlete is Justin Verlander

Fascinating. Wake me when they tell us something that might make me consider whether or not I would buy the game. Hey, I know release is several months away, and I don't expect any previews still for a few months, but, c'mon, who gives a rats *** who is on a cover? If I want a picture of an athlete, I'll buy a poster. Maybe I'm in the minority, but I have never cared in the least who (if anyone) is on the cover of a videogame. If 2k paid more for having him on a cover, and I assume they did, to me, that's a waste of resources. I'd rather see improvement in the game. But, that's just me.

I don't care who is on the cover either (it could be a plan white case if the game is good, for all I care), but I don't fault them for marketing it. A lot of people seem to care (including a great many people here, from commentary in these types of threads), so it makes sense to put the best pitcher of the last year on it.

As far as the resources go, generally speaking, an advertising budget is separate from developmental resources. So that should have little to do with what resources are used for the product.