After 5 years in court, Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong and other arcade records are back thanks in part to a doctor's note that says nobody can prove he cheated

Billy Mitchell, the arcade gamer known for achievements in titles like Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, has had several records reinstated by the Twin Galaxies database after reaching a settlement in a defamation lawsuit that's been ongoing since 2019.

In 2018, Twin Galaxies began investigating claims that Billy Mitchell's personal record (which, it should be noted, would not be a world record in 2024) in Donkey Kong was not achieved on original, unmodified arcade hardware. Within a few months, the site removed all of Mitchell's scores - Donkey Kong or otherwise - and banned him from further competition. Twin Galaxies said it had found anomalies in the video submission of the score which suggested it was produced through the emulation software MAME.

Mitchell filed suit for defamation against Twin Galaxies in 2019, and that case was finally settled just last week. While the details of the settlement have not been made public, today Twin Galaxies announced that Mitchell's records have been returned to the site's official historical database thanks at least in part to the findings of USC's Dr. Michael Zyda, who served as an expert witness in the case.

"Twin Galaxies' mandate is to verify that submissions meet verification guidelines, not to investigate how they are produced," the site says in its statement. "This latter area remains available to experts such as Dr. Zyda and other interested parties, who may examine and assess these matters for their individual purposes. Twin Galaxies takes no official stance on the creation of submitted content but can recognize and acknowledge Dr. Zyda's expert opinion."

The statement concludes, "In fair consideration of the expert opinion provided by Dr. Zyda on behalf of Mr. Mitchell, and consistent with Twin Galaxies' dedication to the meticulous documentation and preservation of video game score history, Twin Galaxies shall heretofore reinstate all of Mr. Mitchell’s scores as part of the official historical database on Twin Galaxies’