When 2K Sports’ exclusive third-party deal with Major League Baseball expired after last season, it looked like baseball on the Xbox was all but dead.

Not so fast.

2K Sports announced out of the blue this morning that not only will “MLB 2K13” be published this year for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but the company’s million dollar perfect game challenge will also return, giving baseball fans the chance to live out their dream of getting rich playing video games.

According to the press release, “MLB 2K13” will be available March 5, and Tampa Bay Rays’ ace David Price will appear on the cover.

Nearly 1 million attempts were made to win the perfect game challenge last year, with more than 1,000 perfect games recorded, before 21-year-old Christopher Gilmore finally won an eight-player tournament against the top 2K players in the world to capture the $1 million grand prize.

There's no word yet on any new features in “MLB 2K13” or if there are any changes to this year’s Perfect Game Challenge, but check back to ESPN Playbook in the coming weeks for more on this breaking story.