There’s still no release date on BioShock Infinite‘s confirmed DLC expansions, but it looks like Songbird’s ward won’t be tossing you spare change and health packs whenever the first one does arrive. The LinkedIn profile of 2K Games senior animator Michael Shahan lists a recent gig “providing animation and R&D for a new AI companion charater” in BioShock Infinite, as spotted by the video game industry’s premiere web sleuth, Superannuation. The listing was promptly taken offline after the tweet went out.
We’ve known that the three planned expansions would include more than just a couple of challenge rooms and retreads of Columbia’s floating urban islands ever since 2K Games and Irrational Games announced the BioShock season pass back in February. All-new short stories, weapons, and Vigor abilities were promised, along with new characters. That said, nothing in the reveal suggested that players wouldn’t be taking control of lead Booker DeWitt and his traveling companion, Elizabeth.
The original game was not known for its compelling downloadable expansions, with post-release content amounting to nothing more than a collection of challenge rooms. As a self-contained story with a blank slate protagonist, there wasn’t much room to expand on BioShock in a narrative capacity.
BioShock 2, meanwhile, received a downloadable story expansion called Minerva’s Den that was in many ways more well-received than the core game. Minerva’s Den designer Steve Gaynor eventually left his post at Irrational to work with fellow 2K Marin vets on Gone Home, so the task of delivering worthwhile DLC with a new companion as beguiling as Elizabeth was falls to Irrational’s current team. Fortunately, they did a pretty decent job on Infinite.
Ken Levine did offer up a tease in February about the DLC. “The story stuff I’m working on will be a love letter to fans,” he teased at the time. If the DLC is just a new AI companion reading Booker a love letter, that will be pretty disappointing. Or it could be totally great. We’ll have to wait and see.
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