Deep down beneath layers of Belarusian Morse code, hidden buttons, code-breaking, your Friends list, and other such complexities, Battlefield 4 featured one of the most complicated Easter eggs of all time. In October of last year, shortly after its release, it began to look (or, more accurately, sound) like the throwback shooter Battlefield 1 would follow the same path. Players discovered headphones hidden on each map that, when coupled with secret radio stations, led to the discovery of encrypted Morse code broadcasts.
It's taken months to figure out what the messages were saying, but that was part of the plan. As noted by Kotaku, in November the message changed to indicate that the previous transmission was "corrupted," and that players were to wait for further instructions. Updated messages recently began broadcasting, and to no one's great surprise the instructions they contain are wickedly convoluted: Even with the mystery now solved, there's no easy way for players to earn the reward on offer.
"The steps on the way to unlocking this dog tag are complicated and solved through logic puzzles, and if you want to acquire it yourself, there are no shortcuts and you will have to travel an individual path," YouTuber jackfrags said in a video explaining the process.
That's because the headphones are hidden in one of five possible locations on each map, and the key locations referenced in the messages they lead to vary as well, and to a much larger extent. From there you'll have to chase down more stashed headphones, decode new messages, unlock heavier encryption, find more secret locations, and so it goes. It's not the kind of thing you're likely to get through over a coffee break.
Once you've made your way through the process, you get—tada!—a dog tag. It's a lot of work for a little digital trinket, but it also appears to be not the end of the mystery, but just the beginning. In fact, that's what it's called: "A Beginning: You've found something that does not belong to you." Clearly, there's more to come.
Resources for assisting with the Battlefield 1 Easter egg hunt (or just following along with the fun) can be had at the Battlefield Easter Egg Wiki. Jackfrags' video rundown can be seen below, and a step-by-step guide to unlocking the dog tag, which might be easier to follow along with, is available on Google docs.
