About

The city of Columbia was built by the US Government in the late 1800s to serve as a floating world’s fair.  The city was sent to travel from continent to continent and show the rest of the world the success of the American experiment. Unknown to most, Columbia was also a “death star,” secretly packed with weaponry. Political strife caused Columbia to secede from America and the city disappeared. No one knows how to get to Columbia.

You play Booker DeWitt, a former Pinkerton detective. Faced with mounting debts, you are forced to take one last job: you must travel to the missing city of Columbia to find a young woman and bring her safely out of the city.

Elizabeth has been imprisoned in Columbia since childhood. All she knows about the world are her rooms and her jailer, a massive creature known as Songbird. Finally freed by Booker DeWitt, Elizabeth finds herself lost in the city and troubled by many questions. Who imprisoned her? Why? Where do her powers come from? And why is she at the center of the conflict that’s tearing Columbia apart?

Songbird is the creature that serves as Elizabeth’s jailer, protector and only companion. Once Booker frees Elizabeth, Songbird will do anything and everything to return Elizabeth to her prison.

The Founders are the ruling party of Columbia. Their leader is Zachary Hale Comstock.

The Vox Populi--Latin for “Voice of the People”--are the group opposing the Founders. Their leader is Daisy Fitzroy. The Vox Populi started as a small underground group that worked to protect the rights of the working class. Following an inciting event in China, the Vox Populi staged violent mass riots against Founder oppression. The Founders retaliated with a violent government-imposed lockdown. Now, the Vox aim to destroy industry and government control in Columbia. They will vandalize anything from factories and utilities to the stores and homes of innocents. They see these acts of destruction as revenge against the Founder regime and the delivery of their political message.

BioShock Infinite will be released in 2012.

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

Irrational has announced support for PlayStation Move.

Irrational currently has no plans for a WiiU title.

The Sky-Lines were initially built as a means for shipping and moving cargo in Columbia, but the city’s youth quickly found a way to use them as a death-defying means of movement. As the struggle between factions in Columbia intensified, they become not only a method of transportation but also a facilitator of combat. In the second BioShock Infinite gameplay demo, you saw Booker maneuver through a system of interweaving Sky-Lines to outwit and outmaneuver his foes.

The shimmering objects and effects are “tears” in reality that have opened up in Columbia. Elizabeth has the unique ability able to manipulate these tears to materialize objects, people, and much more.

Zachary Hale Comstock is the leader of Columbia and the head of the Founder faction. Comstock rose to fame as a war hero in the battle of Wounded Knee. In Columbia Comstock entered politics and promoted the kind of populist ideals featured in our initial gameplay demo.

Daisy Fitzroy is the leader and figurehead of the Vox. Daisy wants the world’s workers to rise up and overthrow their oppressors, and she believes the dramatic destruction of Columbia will serve as a catalyst. She seeks the death of Elizabeth to ensure the fall of Columbia and bring her plans to fruition.

Stay tuned for more information.

BioShock Infinite is being built on a modified version of Unreal Engine 3. For a list of some of the changes, please see this thread on the Irrational forums, with a detailed post by technical director Chris Kline.

Irrational won't create a multiplayer mode unless we feel such a mode would be truly worthy of the BioShock name.

So far we’ve only shown the Murder of Crows and Bucking Bronco Vigors. There will be more details coming—stay tuned!

So far, we’ve shown a sniper rifle, machine gun, shotgun, pistol, and rocket launcher. Stay tuned for more updates!

That is the Handyman, one of Columbia’s many combatants.