10 Video Game Secrets That Broke The Law
4. Mooning Steve Ballmer - Halo 2
This instance of secret nudity is at least considerably less creepy than the other examples on this list, even if it still caused a considerable legal and monetary headache for Microsoft.
And it all came down to a damn butt.
When Halo 2 was close to release on Windows Vista in 2007, with copies already sent out to retailers, Microsoft discovered some partial nudity hidden in one of the game's error messages.
The error contained a picture of one of the game's lead engineers, Charlie Gough, mooning his ass at then-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
This was a big deal given that the ESRB had already rated the game "Mature" with descriptions citing blood, language, and violence, but nothing about nudity, because to their knowledge there wasn't any in the game.
While the offending butt photo wouldn't raise the game's rating to "Adults Only," it did nevertheless require Microsoft to delay the game by nine days in order to recall all copies and replace the ESRB sticker with one that mentioned nudity, thereby ensuring the game could be sold in stores.
This reportedly cost the company an eye-watering $500,000, and is also rumoured to have caused several firings.