How soccer and theater helped Irrational create BioShock Infinite’s Elizabeth

SAN FRANCISCO — In its quest to make Elizabeth seem like a real-life partner to BioShock Infinite star Booker DeWitt, Irrational’s “Liz Squad” turned to an unlikely source — soccer.

Similar to how soccer defenders try to keep themselves between an attacker and the goal, Irrational’s A.I. programmers did their best to keep Elizabeth on the screen between the DeWitt and his destination, explained lead programmer John Abercrombie at a Tuesday session at the 2014 Game Developers Conference. That way, she could interact more naturally with objects in a way that the player would notice.