Developer Irrational Games has revealed that BioShock Infinite will be available for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in North America on October 16, 2012, with an international release October 19.

Irrational President and Creative Director Ken Levine said the upcoming title has been "our sole focus for the last four years," and will be the culmination of a "vision for a follow up that dwarfed the original in scope and ambition." The 2K Marin-developed Bioshock 2 was released in early 2010 without Irrational's direct involvement.

In addition, Sony has revealed that the PS3 version of the game will include a copy of the original BioShock on the same Blu-Ray disc.

Infinite takes the highly regarded series in a completely new direction, shifting the scenario from the underwater, libertarian haven of Rapture to the jingoistic, America-first flying city of Columbia during the early 20th century. Levine has said the game's story was partially inspired by the recent "Occupy" movement protests, telling Reuters last November that "it's been fascinating to watch the conflict in the game, which is based on historical conflicts, sort of become reincarnated in our times."