Top 10 Secret Celebrity Cameos in Video Games

Did you recognize these famous faces and voices? Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 Hidden Celebrity Cameos in Video Games.

For this list, we’re only looking at subtle and obscure cameos you may have missed while playing these games.

Legendary musician David Bowie featured in only one video game in his entire career: the appropriately bizarre “Omikron: The Nomad Soul”. While Quantic Dream has been able to land big-name stars like Ellen Page and Jesse Williams more recently, getting Ziggy Stardust for their debut title is definitely impressive. Unfortunately, this strange relic has largely been forgotten, and Bowie’s various scenes with it. In the game, Bowie plays a character called Boz, and according to director David Cage, Bowie needed very little guidance and was able to capture the spirit of the game pretty much right away. As if that’s not impressive enough, they also got him to write the game’s soundtrack.

There’s no shortage of NBA games in which you can play as your favorite basketball star, but for one of them to pop up in a UFC title? Now that’s unexpected! In THQ and Yuke's “UFC Undisputed 2010”, Shaquille O’Neal is included as a hidden playable character. By inputting the right cheat code in the menu, you’ll unlock Shaq as a new heavyweight fighter, who comes complete with additional voice lines to celebrate your victory. Though it may initially seem like an odd addition, it's not Shaq’s first foray into the realm of fighting games. He is, after all, the master of Shaq Fu!

Back in the heyday of LucasArts, the studio put out no small number of beloved titles, including the renowned adventure game “The Secret of Monkey Island.” In the original version of the game, the troll guarding the bridge will take off his mask and reveal himself as none other than George Lucas. Unfortunately, many fans didn’t even realize this cameo was there until the special edition re-release in 2009, when you could finally see clearly that this was, in fact, the founder of LucasArts himself. You’d better pay that troll toll, or who knows how many more digitally enhanced “Star Wars” movies Lucas might be compelled to release.

If you get bored of robbing banks and blowing up cars in “GTA 4”, you might decide to actually take Roman up on his offer of hanging out for an evening. Though the minigames are fun enough, the entertainment really shines when you finally unlock the central island and can head to the comedy club. When there, you’ll be treated to sets from two popular comedians, Ricky Gervais and Katt Williams. Controversial as ever, they don’t pull any punches with their jokes about Liberty City – or when they take on a heckler. But it’s easy enough to miss them altogether, even after many hours of gameplay, if you never bother to head to the club.

Though he’s better known today as the face of various game shows, in 2001, Carey was at the height of his comedy career and starring in his own sitcom, “The Drew Carey Show.” Maybe this is why the brains over at Maxis decided to include him as a secret NPC who’ll show up if you throw a wild enough party. Your party has to last for over two hours and get a score of at least 55 for Carey to decide it’s worthy of his attention, and then he’ll arrive in a limo and steal your limelight. He’ll talk to all your guests and they’ll never stop thinking about him.

The King of Pop’s music videos were one of the major sources of inspiration for “Space Channel 5” , but having the elusive music icon actually appear in the game? That takes the experience to a whole other level. Upon being presented with a demo of the title, he apparently volunteered to have a cameo as a sci-fi version of himself: Space Michael, a 500-year-old superstar who had saved Earth from alien invaders. He even lent his voice to a few lines! In 2020, “Space Channel 5” finally made its grand return to take advantage of VR technology, but Space Michael is nowhere to be seen.

Late-night giant Conan O’Brien has made no secret of his disdain for video games. He’s been very clear about the fact that he does NOT like them. That being said, he’s more than happy to play high profile new releases and completely rip into them for “Clueless Gamer.” It’s a unique approach to marketing, but gaming companies actually pay to have him play and mock their games. In fact, they’ve even invited him and his on-screen sidekick Andy Richter to feature in triple-A releases: the duo made a cameo appearance as two marines guarding crates in “Halo 4”. Conan also had a cameo in 2019’s “Death Stranding”, in which he’ll give you an otter suit and tell some jokes that don’t land with Sam.

In between writing episodes of the acclaimed anthology series “Black Mirror”, Charlie Brooker took the time to lend his voice and likeness to an Axis soldier in “Sniper Elite III.” So, if you’re one of the people who believes “Black Mirror” has been going downhill, never fear; pick up a copy of “Sniper Elite III” and you can take out your frustrations on Brooker himself. He was even mo-capped for the role of Hitler’s right-hand man. And unlike Conan, Brooker is a long-time fan of video games, even presenting a documentary in 2013 on the subject. Charlie Brooker has always been one to push the boundaries, and making himself an in-game target feels appropriately dark and twisted.

NBA, and sports games in general, tend to feature an abundance of celebrity cameos. But while most of them make sense, others seem to be included simply for the sake of throwing something strange into the mix.. Case in point: enter a cheat code on “NBA Jam” and you could unlock Bill Clinton – president at the time – along with the First Lady and Vice President Al Gore. Before such things were discussed to death on forums, this is exactly the sort of in-game secret that gamers loved to discover through the grapevine. Another star featured was Will Smith as his Fresh Prince persona, which makes sense considering he was good at the sport on the show!

In the early 2000s, Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert were friends working together on “The Daily Show.” But just before their careers took off and launched them both into the stratosphere, they provided voiceover work for the lesser-known “Outlaw Sports” series, including titles like “Outlaw Golf,” “Outlaw Tennis” and “Outlaw Volleyball.” Interestingly, they never worked on the same game; Carell was the man for volleyball and golf while Colbert was the announcer for “Tennis.” In any case, it’s surreal to play an average and forgettable sports game on an obsolete console and hear the voices of two of America’s most popular comedians.