The Elder Scrolls gamers uncover 29-year-old secret hidden in forgotten Bethesda game

An Elder Scrolls fan has uncovered a hidden Easter egg in a forgotten Bethesda game, solving a mystery that has remained unsolved for nearly 30 years. Now, we finally know how to access what Bethesda has been keeping under wraps all this time.

The game in question is An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire, a spin-off from the mainline RPG series originally released on MS-DOS in 1997. Some Bethesda fans may have played it and forgotten about it, while others may never have heard of it in the first place.

Either way, this 29-year-old secret will no doubt interest fans of The Elder Scrolls. Development was led by Julian LeFay, often considered the father of the series, making this his final project as a Bethesda employee, although he briefly returned to help with the production of Morrowind as a contractor.

The hidden Battlespire Easter egg has a fascinating backstory

The discovery was brought to light by Andrew Borman, director of digital preservation at The Strong National Museum of Play, which recently acquired a collection of documents belonging to the aforementioned Julian LeFay.

The secret in question is a photograph featuring members of the An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire development team, accompanied by the message "Battlespire rules!" While fans knew that this photograph existed, as documented on the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages wiki, nobody had figured out how to display the image or whether it actually worked in the final game. That was until now.

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According to Andrew Borman, to unlock and view the image, players must follow these steps:

1. Load into Battlespire.
2. Hold down the number 1 on their keyboard.
3. While holding it, type the word "spire".
4. The hidden development team photograph should appear with the message "Battlespire rules!"

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What is An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire?

Unlike the expansive open-world RPGs in the Bethesda fantasy series, such as Morrowind, Skyrim and Oblivion, An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire is a more linear game: a dungeon crawler played from a first-person perspective. Its gameplay is more closely associated with earlier entries in the series, including The Elder Scrolls: Arena and Daggerfall.

However, it's perhaps worth keeping in mind that, of the three games available on Steam, An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire isn't as well received as Arena and Daggerfall. But it might still be worth checking out if you want to experience a forgotten piece of The Elder Scrolls history.

For reference, The Elder Scrolls: Arena is rated "Mostly Positive" on Steam, with 77% of more than 1,400 English-language user reviews recommending it. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall is rated "Very Positive", with 85% of more than 2,300 English-language user reviews recommending it. Meanwhile, An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire has a "Mixed" rating, with 68% of more than 160 user reviews recommending it.