Ken Levine: BioShock Infinite box art is for the uninformed

Irrational Games boss Ken Levine talked with Wired recently about the cover art for BioShock Infinite, which was unveiled just over a week ago to the groans of many. Levine compared games to salad dressing when talking about the intentions of the game's box art, saying, "I don't read Salad Dressing Weekly. I don't care who makes it, I don't know any of the personalities in the salad dressing business."

Levine said that members of the team went to frathouses to ask if gamers have played BioShock, and "not a single one of them had heard of it." He makes the distinction that the box art for BioShock Infinite is for those uninformed players that don't read news on gaming sites. So, it's not for you, dear Joystiq reader, though Levine addressed you as well, noting that the developer will be releasing a "whole set of alternate covers that you can download and print. We're going to be working with the community to see what they're interested in."

Levine added that the BioShock team had to "make that tradeoff in terms of where we were spending our marketing dollars. By the time you get to the store, or see an ad, the BioShock fan knows about the game. The money we're spending on PR, the conversations with games journalists - that's for the fans. For the people who aren't informed, that's who the box art is for."

BioShock Infinite will launch March 26, 2013 for PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Levine also recently spoke with Joystiq about the game's themes of faith and evolution of its central character, Elizabeth.