10 Times Creators Sneakily Inserted Themselves Into Video Games

Every creator loves putting their mark on what they create. Sometimes it's just a simple signature or a name in the credits, or a brief cameo in a movie, Tarantino-style. However, when it comes to video games, it seems creators are far more inventive when it comes to reminding people who's behind the project.

There are plenty of game developers who, at some point in their careers, have directly inserted themselves into their games, either as a fictional character in the story or as an actual virtual version of themselves.

These self-insert cameos aren't always very subtle, but even the blatantly obvious ones can make for an unexpected appearance that can really catch the player off-guard.

Let's examine some of these cameos and hope that they aren't signs of someone developing a god complex...

(Looking at you, Kojima)

Shigeki Morimoto is a Japanese game designer and programmer who has been working for Game Freak since their very first Pokemon games. The man has a long history of inserting himself into his own projects, dating all the way back to the first Black and White games released in 2010.

Morimoto's in-game character is always a Pokemon trainer that the player encounters towards the end of the story.

He never uses a unique model, which is why he can appear as a mysterious man in a trench coat in one game, and a generic, middle-aged police officer the next. In his most recent appearance in Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, Morimoto dons the outfit of a professional swimmer (well, if you count a cap and some tight speedos as an outfit).

The battles with Morimoto are meant to pose a challenge to the player, and usually come with a pretty hefty prize for winning. Perhaps it's supposed to be an appropriate reward for defeating the creator of the game. Or maybe it's an apology for bothering unsuspecting players for well over a decade.