Valve refunds gamer uncomfortable with forced baptism in BioShock Infinite

Breen Malmberg, a self-described Christian and "devout believer," received a refund for BioShock Infinite after requesting one from Valve based on his objections to an unskippable scene in the game, according to an interview with Malmberg published in Kotaku.

Malmberg objected to an early game scene in which the protagonist must submit to a baptism to progress. He characterized the choice as "extreme blasphemy."

"As baptism of the Holy spirit is at the center of Christianity — of which I am a devout believer — I am basically being forced to make a choice between committing extreme blasphemy by my actions in choosing to accept this 'choice' or forced to quit playing the game before it even really starts," Malmberg told Kotaku.

For comparison, he pointed to the controversial airport scene in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which players could skip without penalty. He wrote Valve requesting a refund or store credit, because he could not circumvent the choice.

In his letter to Valve, the full text of which is published in Kotaku, he explained that he found BioShock Infinite "offensive to my religious beliefs." Although Valve's Steam Refund Policy states that the company does "not offer refunds or exchanges on games, DLC or in-game items purchased on our website or through the Steam Client," Malmberg said that Valve provided him a refund.

We've reached out to Valve to confirm the refund and find out why the exception was apparently made and Irrational for its reaction and will update this article as more information becomes available.