The box art for Irrational Games’ BioShock Infinite was revealed on the official Facebook page for the game. The reaction has been mixed, with a number of fans bashing the somewhat generic main image of the protagonist, Booker DeWitt, with a shotgun over his shoulder (who also does look kind of similar to Nathan Drake). However, the one thing that does stand out about the cover art is that the back features cosplayer Anna ‘Ormeli’ Moleva as Elizabeth.

Anna is a cosplayer from Moscow and her portrayal of Elizabeth got noticed by Irrational Games. Developer Ken Levine wrote on his blog, “We were so amazed by her dedication and her resemblance to Elizabeth that we decided to ask her if she’d like to be involved in helping bring Elizabeth to life in our box, our key art and our upcoming television ad.” Aligning some headshots of Anna with Elizabeth’s character model, they were able to incorporate her on the cover. Describing her as “the official face of Elizabeth” she is also expected to make appearances at events promoting the game.

Anna said of the character in the upcoming game, “As soon as I saw her, I knew I HAD to do it! I love the first two parts of BioShock, so ever since Infinite was announced I followed the promotion campaign. Then when Liz’s appearance was finalised – and I saw what I think is a remarkable resemblance between us – I as a cosplayer couldn’t just ignore it. It was really hard, because cosplay isn’t just about recreating the appearance. It’s about acting, portraying the character as a whole. At the moment, we knew very little – almost nothing – about her as a character. So I’m really glad that everything worked out for me.”

Anna’s deviantART gallery also features her cosplaying as Alice from American McGee’s Alice and female Shepard from Mass Effect.

BioShock Infinite is set for release worldwide on February 26th 2013 for PC, PS3 and XBOX 360.

Source: Irrational Games

Originally published on MCM Buzz on 4 December 2012.