In late 2017, it was discovered that all of Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong records of over one million points were fraudulent. The video footage was made using the MAME emulator, which allows players to use save states.
Steve Wiebe regained the title on September 20, 2010 with 1,064,500 points.
On April 12, 2018, NPR reported that Billy Mitchell, holding the title "Video Game Player of the Century," has been cast down from the heights of the high score lists. Twin Galaxies, the organization that tracks video game world records, announced that it is removing his records and banning him from future leader-boards. An investigation lasting more than two months found that Mitchell set some of his best-known records on improperly modified software, not the original, unmodified arcade games mandated under the organization's rules.
The project originally began as a documentary about competitive gaming in general - it wasn't until the film was well into production that the crew discovered the events surrounding Wiebe and Mitchell, and decided to re-focus the film entirely on this rivalry. This largely accounts for the amount of coverage the film gives to minor players, such as the elderly Q*Bert champion. By the time production ended, over 300 hours of video had been shot.
Several of those depicted in the documentary, including Wiebe and Mitchell themselves, claim that it does not accurately depict events. For example, Wiebe and Mitchell were, and still are, on much friendlier terms than is suggested, and another player's record was in place during some of the events but is omitted. The director has conceded to many of these claims in statements, arguing that the fictionalized account is more entertaining.