5 Best Easter Eggs in Video Game Credits

While there are many fantastic instances and references to pop culture in video games, nothing gets players as excited as a good old easter egg. And we're not referring to the Easter Sunday variety. We're talking about hidden easter eggs in video games, the kind that creators hide for players to uncover. More specifically, we're looking for the best easter eggs in video game post-credits. But there is more reasoning behind why developers like to hide easter eggs in post-credits; to reward gamers who took the time to recognize the developers.

Video games didn't have post-credits for developers for a very long period. In fact, it is because of this that the “easter egg” term ignited in video games. When programmer Warren Robinett was told by his publishers they didn't want to include any credits for the Atari 2600 game Adventure, he hid a room in the game with his name to recognize him as a developer. As a result, now we have tons of easter eggs scattered throughout video games and their credits, and here are our picks for some of the best.

5. Nintendo Switch Sports

Even when it comes to co-op couch sports games, Nintendo still finds a way to sneak in easter eggs. Which shouldn't come as a surprise since the studio has a knack for hiding easter eggs in just about all their games. As pointed out in a tweet by nintenmau5, Nintendo made the decision to provide a special gift for those who chose to play their entertaining little mini-game in the credits screen. Which is nothing more than a simple game of tennis.

Well, not unless you manage to hit the ball back and forth 50 times in a row, then you get a prize. Which is a usable player tag called “Staffer”. The fact that Nintendo wants to reward you for spending the time to look at the developers, who undoubtedly put in many hours making Nintendo Switch Sports, just show's how deeply they care about their games and the people who make them.

4. A Plague Tale: Innocence

Much like how movies will leave a last-second cut-scene after the credits, so did Asobo with A Plague Tale: Innocence. Without giving away too many spoilers, it shows a final scene of the two siblings together, before it pans out revealing the town and sea with a boat in the distance. Well, this boat wasn't mindlessly placed.

Months later Focus Interactive, the studio's publisher, held an event where they revealed that they're also publishing Asobo Studio's next upcoming game and even provided a brief teaser for it. Which happens to be the feature image that you can see under the title directly above you.

The easter egg is no other than the boat itself. That happens to be the same one you can see at the end of A Plague Tale: Innocence cutscene as it pans out. That easter egg was telling players that they were getting a second Plague Tale Game and almost no one picked up on it. Now with the game's announcement made, we can confirm that game is no other than A Plague Tale: Requiem, releasing on October 18, 2022.

3. Minecraft

Minecraft is one of the most beloved games of all time. Because so, many players are familiar with the game's developer Markus Persson, who's more commonly known amongst fans by the nickname they gave him, “Notch”. Well, there's speculation to this one, but many fans believe they have found an easter egg that Notch left in the video game post-credit scenes.

When a player completes Minecraft, a portal leads them to the video game credits, which last for about 40 minutes. At the very end of the credits, a quote pops up, which say's “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”. And the Author of the quote is just signed as “Unkown”.

Well, players discovered that the quote actually belongs to American author Horace Jackson Brown JR. in his book, P.S. I love You. While it hasn't been confirmed, many players feel this was Notch leaving an easter egg as a remark to one of his favorite quotes and authors, since it was signed by “Unknown”.

2. Undertale

As we mentioned earlier, Game designers frequently include easter eggs in video game credits to acknowledge their work and thank the players for playing it. Which, makes total sense for a game like Undertale, since it's an Indie game entirely developed by one developer, Toby Fox. That's why he wanted to leave an easter egg after the game's credits to thank players who took the time to play his game.

In total Undertale has 93 endings, one being the True Pacifist ending. The credits for this ending are lengthy, showcasing concept illustrations and names for opponents in the game done by developer Fox. Once through, it cuts to a fun little game of asteroid that has you dodging the names of all the people who supported Undertale's Kickstarter. If you successfully dodge all the names, which is a challenge, you get a special easter egg message from Fox himself thanking you for supporting his work. A heartwarming easter egg for sure.

1. Sonic the Hedgehog

As we mentioned before, it took time for publishers to accept the fact that video games too deserved end credits to recognize developers. A popular method around this by publishers was to get developers to use nicknames instead of their actual ones. Well, this didn't sit well when Sega prompted that exact request to the team who made the first Sonic the Hedgehog game for the Sega Genesis. That's why one of the game's co-creators, Yuji Naka, felt he should do something to give his team the recognition they deserve.

Much like Robinett before him with Adventure, Naka made an easter egg to give credit to the real names of the developers of the games, not unjust nicknames. By pushing a series of buttons on the Sonic the Hedgehog home screen, players could pull up a secret credit scene that includes the names of the game's developers. That undoubtedly qualifies as one of the best easter eggs in video game credits, since it's done in the same fashion that kickstarted the entire trend.

So, what's your take? Do you agree with our top five? What's your favorite? Are there other easter eggs in video games credits that we should know about? Let us know in the comments below or over on our socials here!