BioShock Infinite: Levine didn’t shy away from or court controversy – “There’s a story I want to tell”

By Stephany Nunneley

Bioshock Infinite’s Ken Levine has told Joystiq he is neither shies away from nor is he overly zealous when it comes to courting controversial subjects in games.

Speaking in a video interview on the site, Levine said he is not afraid of any topic when there’s a story he wants to tell.

Infinite, for example, contains threads of racism and a self-appointed prophet.

“For my own personal tastes, I’m not afraid of any topic or I wouldn’t walk away from any topic because it was controversial,” he said. “And I wouldn’t run towards any topic because it was controversial. There’s a story I want to tell.

“Originally, the conflict in [Infinite] was one between technologists and luddites, and it just wasn’t very interesting for us. The story didn’t go anywhere, because there wasn’t a lot of historical precedence for it and it didn’t really resonate. And it evolved, and it kept evolving many, many times.”

Levine said with controversial or social subjects in games it’s not about “what you do,” but how you go about including it.

Check out the video below.

BioShock Infinite is out in March.