I hated working for EA. I felt like just another cog in the machine. And I was ashamed of some of the crap they put out. Someone had actually joked that we could literally put a turd in the next Madden box and people would still buy it.
They did make a wide range of games though. It was the perfect place to execute my plan. Nobody even suspected my real motive when I asked to move from project to project. I had to admit, it had been fun working on a lot of different games. Need for Speed, James Bond, Medal of Honor, Command and Conquer. Just to name a few. And with the puzzle being hidden in so many different types of games, I could be sure it would be the most hard core gamer that would solve it.
I remember when I first hatched my plan. The South Park video had just been found in Tiger Woods. I was such a newbie working on my first game.
"You mean you guys put hidden stuff in all your games?" I asked a co-worker.
"Sure. We called them easter eggs. It makes the job a little more interesting to know that you've put your own personal stamp on something you worked on."
"But aren't you worried about getting caught?"
"That's part of the fun. Trying to not get caught. It's like a game within a game. But only you know about it. And plus the players love it when they find them."
It was shortly after that I put the first egg in. The first part of my puzzle I started calling my "Great Work." I was so worried that I would get caught or somebody would find it right away. But the game got released and after months of waiting went by I was glad nobody found it.
The plan was going to take years to execute. I was in it for the long haul. No matter how much EA sucked I had to stay to get it done. Each game had one more piece of the puzzle. Whoever solved it was going to be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams.
I started to get worried after the last bit was puy in place. Over the years nobody had even found one. After all that time and effort was all my hard work going to just be lost in time? Would I slogged through all those years working for that sweatshop putting out crap been wasted?
That's when I came up with the idea to start planting new clues around the internet. Reddit would be the first place. I thought /r/gaming would be where I began but then figured it would be too obvious. Then I realized /r/WritingPrompts would be better. It was more subtle. I would write a prompt that hinted at the puzzle and then sit back and wait.
I just hoped everybody wouldn't think it was a stupid ploy by EA to get people to go back and buy all their crappy games trying to solve the puzzle.