Kids once passed around the rumor that slipping two CDs into a disc drive would merge them into one wild hybrid game. Some actually tried it, hoping for a mash-up of their favorite titles. All it really did was scratch the discs and disappoint anyone curious enough to test the myth. | © Reddit
Back in the early PC days, kids believed running a game in “administrator mode” would unlock hidden god powers. The idea came from not really understanding how user accounts worked on clunky family computers. Of course, all it really did was give the program permission to run, and the only god powers players got came from actual cheat codes in games like SimCity or Zeus: Master of Olympus. | © Mojang Studios
The legend of Killswitch tells of a creepy survival game supposedly released in 1989, where you played as a girl named Porto or a ghostly Ghast. The story goes that once you finished it, the game deleted itself forever, leaving no trace behind. No real evidence of the game has ever surfaced, but the myth still lives on as one of gaming’s strangest urban legends. | © Killswitch
Some players believed Fallout 3 hid morse code messages on the in-game radio that could predict real-world events. The biggest claim was that it even called the date and time of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In reality, no such code exists, and the theory was just another wild fan rumor. | © Bethesda
Final Fantasy VII shocked players when Sephiroth killed Aerith, and rumors quickly spread that she could somehow be saved. Fans tried everything from maxing out levels to using secret weapons, hoping to change her fate. None of it ever worked, and Aerith’s death remains one of the game’s most unforgettable moments. | © Square Enix
One of gaming’s biggest modern myths is Herobrine in Minecraft. Players described him as a Steve lookalike with glowing white eyes who haunted worlds, wrecked builds, and stole animals. He’s never been in the game’s code, but mods and fan stories kept the legend alive for years. | © Mojang Studios
Players swore they saw Bigfoot lurking in the forests of GTA: San Andreas, especially around the Back O’ Beyond area. Despite endless searches, no one ever found proof without using mods, though blurry “sightings” kept popping up online. Rockstar denied it completely, but the myth stuck around just like Bigfoot legends in real life. | © Rockstar Games
In World of Warcraft Classic, players were obsessed with the Corrupted Ashbringer, a sword that could even trigger unique events in Scarlet Monastery. Many believed it could be purified if you just followed the right steps, and countless theories spread through the community. The truth was that cleansing the blade wasn’t possible until Wrath of the Lich King, leaving the Classic myth unsolved at the time. | © Blizzard Entertainment
Fans of Shadow of the Colossus once believed a secret 17th colossus could be unlocked with a hidden ritual. The myth likely came from the fact that the developers originally planned far more bosses but had to cut the number down due to PS2 limits. While unused data of some scrapped designs was found, no hidden colossus ever existed in the game. | © Sony Interactive Entertainment
In Pokémon Red & Blue, players discovered a random truck near Vermilion City that sparked endless rumors. The story went that interacting with it would let you catch the ultra-rare Mew, which made kids spend hours trying to reach it. In reality, the truck did nothing, but Nintendo later referenced it in newer games as a fun nod to the old myth. | © Nintendo
Movies have always been seen as the dominant form of entertainment, but that doesn’t mean they make more money than games. In 2015, U.S. box office revenue was about $11 billion, while video games pulled in $23.5 billion. Games cost more upfront, but they usually offer way more hours of content than a two-hour film. | © Lucasfilm
Back in the late ’90s, rumors spread that you could undress Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. Players tried countless button combos and tricks, but nothing ever worked because the feature never existed. The developers even joked about it in Tomb Raider 2, adding a fake cheat that made Lara explode and a cheeky cutscene where she shuts the camera off before anything happens. | © Aspyr
Many people still think Pong was the very first video game, but that’s not actually true. A tic-tac-toe program called Bertie the Brain was first shown in 1950, more than two decades before Atari’s arcade hit. Even Computer Space came out a year earlier, it was Pong’s simple and addictive gameplay that turned it into the first true smash success. | © Atari
Super Mario 64 sparked one of gaming’s biggest myths: that Luigi was secretly unlockable. Players pointed to the blurry “L is real 2401” text on the castle courtyard statue and came up with wild theories, like collecting 2401 coins to make him appear. In truth, Luigi was cut during development, but Nintendo later included him in the DS remake along with Wario and Yoshi. | © Nintendo
Players once whispered about a secret cow level in the first Diablo, supposedly unlocked by clicking on a cow over and over. That rumor turned out to be completely fake, but it spread so widely that Blizzard eventually turned the joke into reality in Diablo 2. The cow level has since become a running gag in later games, showing how a myth can end up shaping the series itself. | © Blizzard Entertainment
Gamers love a good secret, and over the years some myths became almost as famous as the games themselves. From hidden characters to impossible cheat codes, these stories spread across playgrounds, magazines, and early forums. Here are 15 video game myths we all believed – and why they weren’t quite what they seemed.
