The Batman Video Game Secret Hidden For 3 Years

A well-hidden video game secret can remain obscured for years, eluding even the most intrepid players who seemingly know a gaming experience like the back of their hand. One major example is the Chris Houlihan room in "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past," only accessible via a glitch in the Super Nintendo title. Honoring a Nintendo Power reader who won a contest, the secret went undiscovered for over a decade. There are plenty of other examples in more recent games, including one in 2011's "Batman: Arkham City" that went unnoticed for three years.

Developer Rocksteady Studios had a tradition of teasing the next chapter in its entire "Batman: Arkham" story with an expertly hidden secret in its current game. This started with 2009's "Batman: Arkham Asylum," with the asylum's warden, Quincy Sharp, having a secret room in his office. After destroying an unmarked fake wall, Batman can discover Sharp's clandestinely approved plans to transform a section of Gotham City into a private prison area. This directly sets up the events and main setting of "Arkham City" two years ahead of the sequel's release.

But there was an even more elusive "Batman: Arkham Knight" tease hidden in "Arkham City."

Among the "Batman: Arkham" facts that you may not know, is that there are actually multiple overt teases in "Arkham City" to "Arkham Knight." Completing side quests like Hush and Azrael's missions more overtly set up the 2015 sequel and the two characters' role in it. One major tease for the sequel is on a nondescript boat just off the coast of Gotham City, with its inner hold accessible if Batman dive-bombs right on its hatch. This reveals that not only did Scarecrow survive the events of "Arkham Asylum," but he has big plans for his inevitable return.

But an even more well-hidden secret teasing "Arkham Knight" within "Arkham City" is linked to the villainous Calendar Man. If Batman visits the character after setting the console's internal game clock to December 13, 2004, the date that Rocksteady Studios was founded, the holiday-obsessed enemy has a special message. Calendar Man warns the Dark Knight that "the end of days is coming," alluding to Batman's seemingly final fate at the end of the 2015 game. Ultimately, this clue was found after an enigmatic nudge to fans from Rocksteady itself three years after the release of "Arkham City."

After the Easter egg remained undiscovered for years, Rocksteady created the YouTube account JG Jour, a nod to Calendar Man's identity and obsession, to provide fans with the vital clue. The account's sole video features Batman visiting Calendar Man in his cell in the disused basement of Gotham's former city hall. The villain asks the Caped Crusader to recall his early work without explicitly giving away how to solve this puzzle. Fans eventually deduced that this comment referred to Rocksteady's own early work, informing them to turn the clocks back on their gaming platforms accordingly.

Interestingly, in the years following the trilogy's conclusion, there have been reports of a cancelled "Arkham Knight" game. This project would have taken decades after the events of "Arkham Knight" in the overarching "Batman: Arkham" timeline, taking inspiration from "Batman Beyond." While there are clues for a sequel in "Arkham Knight," including the appearance of a new Batman, it's unclear if there are even more well-concealed secrets in the 2015 game. In the meantime, the Calendar Man's tease in "Arkham City" remains one of the greatest and most well-hidden secrets in modern gaming.