Museum reveals 29-year-old Battlespire Easter egg secret

The Strong National Museum of Play has revealed how to trigger an Easter egg in An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire that had gone undiscovered for more than 29 years, according to GamesRadar. The method was shared on November 2, 2026 by the museum's director, Andrew Borman, in a video on Bluesky.

The trick: after loading into the game, hold down the number 1 key while typing the word "spire". Doing so displays a photograph of members of the development team with the caption "Battlespire rules!".

Borman said the answer came from a set of documents belonging to Julian LeFay, the lead developer of Battlespire and widely known as the father of The Elder Scrolls, which the museum recently received. LeFay died in 2025.

The reveal lands on the eve of Bethesda's 40th Anniversary. Battlespire was released in 1997 and was the final Elder Scrolls game LeFay worked on as a Bethesda employee, though he later did brief contract work on Morrowind.

Long listed, never solved

The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages wiki had long noted that the Easter egg existed but said it was unknown how to display it, or whether it still functioned in the final game. Battlespire drew mediocre reviews on release and is often grouped with Redguard as the start of a down period for Bethesda that ended with the success of Morrowind.