Soap Didn't Actually Speak in His Debut
Sergeant 'Soap' MacTavish is one of the series' most recognisable faces now, but in his very first appearance he was a silent protagonist. He didn't get an actual voice actor until Modern Warfare 2 came along.
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A Knife in the Dark, Twice Over
Your Dark Brotherhood initiation quest, A Knife in the Dark, shares its title with a chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring - and it's not just the name. Both involve someone very nearly being murdered in their sleep at an inn, which is about as close a callback as you can get without lifting dialogue outright.
The Soundtrack Winks at Old RuneScape
Longtime players who keep their headphones on will catch it: Dragonwilds' track 'Harmony' is a direct musical nod to the original RuneScape song of the same name, and Jagex has said more callbacks to both RuneScape and Old School RuneScape's music are planned.
The Phantom Train of Lemoyne
Ride near the train tracks in northern Lemoyne around 3am and your horse might start acting spooked for no obvious reason. Stick around and a ghostly train comes barrelling down the line before fading away. It's never explained in-game, but a fair few players reckon it's a wink towards the phantom train boss fight from Final Fantasy VI.
Even World of Warcraft Has a Third Leg for Wirt
By the time World of Warcraft rolled around, Blizzard had turned the whole thing into a running gag across the company. Somewhere in Azeroth there's an item called Wirt's Third Leg, quietly keeping a decades-old Diablo joke alive in a completely different game.
It Made the '1001 Video Games' List
This one picked up a spot in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die, putting it alongside decades of games considered essential playing.
The Face on the Box Art Is a Real Developer
That soldier staring out from the cover isn't a stock model or an actor. It's actually Mark Rubin, who worked at Infinity Ward at the time.
Marco Polo Makes a Comeback
The old Marco Polo minigame, first seen as a lighthearted moment between Nate and Elena back in Uncharted 2, shows up again here as a small optional distraction, a nice quiet callback for anyone who's been with the series a while.
A Thousand-Strong Development Team
GTA V's development team swelled to more than 1,000 people at its peak, with production spanning over five years and some staff reportedly logging over 100-hour work weeks to hit the game's original release window.
Arugal Woke the Worgen and Regretted It
The mad wizard at the top of Shadowfang Keep wasn't always a villain. Arugal and a fellow mage called Ur decided to wake the worgen, created by the Druids of the Fang, as super soldiers against the Scourge. It worked, until the worgen spread their curse, killed the keep's owner Baron Silverlaine and left Arugal guilt-ridden and living with his 'children'.