How Occupy Wall Street Is Influencing Bioshock Infinite

Irrational Games' Ken Levine recently spoke out on writing the upcoming BioShock Infinite, noting that the Occupy Wall Street movement has helped him solidify the game's revolutionist narrative and themes. While he started working on the game long before the nationwide U.S. protests took shape, Levine notes in an interview with the Washington Post that the movement in many ways resembles some of the historical events that inspired BioShock Infinite. "What’s really interesting, what’s most interesting to me, is how the movements reflect movements that have come before," he said. "That’s either reassuring or concerning when you look at what’s going on now. Some of those movements, dating back to the French Revolution, have had similar complaints to what Occupy Wall Street has." Levine says that he has kept a close eye on the Occupy Wall Street, noting that the protestors' struggles have helped him flesh out the motivations for the fictional Vox Populi, a faction within BioShock Infinite. "I’ve been spending a lot of time watching Occupy Wall Street. The complaint is that they don’t have a consistent message. It’s been interesting to reflect upon the movement’s message, watching it crystallize." "Occupy Wall Street has been helping me because I’ve been struggling to figure out how the Vox Populi get to the point in the demo," he says, referring to an E3 presentation in which a violent conflict erupts between two of the game's opposing groups. He adds, "I hope the real-life movements don’t head to the same place [as the game], though. I’m not going anywhere nice, I’ll tell you that much."