Bad News for Mtn Dew Game Fuel Citrus Cherry Fans

It’s true, it’s damn true: Mountain Dew Game Fuel Citrus Cherry won’t return to shelves this year. Like a TV detective, let’s try and figure out what the cause of death is before the next commercial break.

Was Game Fuel Citrus Cherry supposed to come back to shelves?

Back in August 2024, our own Tyler Bowers reported that Mountain Dew Game Fuel Citrus Cherry would return for a third year in a row in late 2025—in the classic full sugar and a first-ever zero sugar variant. (Cue the angry cries of the underserved Code Red Zero Sugar fandom.) This news suggested that Game Fuel Citrus Cherry had outperformed the second Game Fuel flavor in previous releases so much, it was a better business move to put a zero sugar Citrus Cherry variant on shelves than to even try to get people into a brand new flavor.

Then, back in April, the soda world was rocked with even wilder news: Mountain Dew Game Fuel Citrus Cherry would return in 2025… exclusively in zero sugar. For reasons unknown, the full sugar version would not grace our shelves. Finally, just within the last few weeks, multiple sources confirmed that the Citrus Cherry Game Fuel release was scrapped entirely.

Why did this release get canceled?

We may never know the real reason, but there’s a few guesses floating around. One rumor suggests it has something to do with PepsiCo’s recent acquisition of the functional soda brand Poppi. Tyler thinks it might have something to do with the food dye ban expected to take place in 2026. Whatever the reason, lots of people are very unhappy with this news. You’ll probably find a few in the comments of this article.

What flavor is going to get a release instead of Game Fuel Citrus Cherry?

As of right now, nothing has been slated to replace Game Fuel Citrus Cherry’s slot in the Pepsi Innovation Calendar. There’s still time for something to make a surprise return (or debut), but for now, it’s TBD. Here’s hoping I have some good news to report on that front sooner rather than later. (The previously-reported Mountain Dew Trolli Cherry-Lemon collaboration is safe; we’ll see that zero sugar soda release sometime around Halloween.)