A standalone browser game, BioShock Infinite: Industrial Revolution, was developed by Lazy 8 Studios under Irrational's direction to promote the main game and provide the player with in-game rewards. They worked with various gaming magazines to create promotional artwork reflecting the turn of the 20th century, and developed tie-in video clips teasing the game's mythology in the style of In Search Of. Irrational and 2K Games used a number of different marketing approaches to promote the game. Levine took a novel approach for his story by bringing the voice actors for Booker and Elizabeth, Troy Baker and Courtnee Draper, respectively, into the studio to develop the characters and help refine the story. Central to the game was the character of Elizabeth, whom Levine wanted to be more of a companion akin to Half-Life 2 's Alyx Vance rather than an escort mission. The Irrational team referenced much of the media from the turn of the century, as well as more recent events such as the various 'Occupy' protests, to shape the game's story and world. Though development initially started in Rapture, the underwater city of the first two BioShock games, the team found this to be too limiting and created the open-aired city of Columbia that allowed for expanded opportunities for combat.

His story took these events to create a tale set in 1912 where the player, as former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, is challenged to rescue a young woman, Elizabeth, who has been kept aboard the floating city of Columbia in the middle of a civil war between its founder Father Zachary Comstock and the Vox Populi, the underclass revolting against him. Irrational's creative lead, Ken Levine was inspired by events at the turn of the 20th century and the expansion of the concept of American Exceptionalism set by the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. The five-year development, led by studio Irrational Games, began under the moniker 'Project Icarus'. The development of BioShock Infinite began after BioShock 's release in August 2007. Ken Levine, the creative director and lead writer for BioShock Infinite

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