Gone Home, BioShock share the same universe

BioShock, Gone Home and System Shock all take place within the same universe, according to The Fullbright Company co-founder Steve Gaynor in a recent episode of Tone Control: Conversations with Video Game Developers.

In Tone Control Episode 7, Gaynor wades into the topic of shared universes while chatting with Brendon Chung, the developer behind games such as Flotilla and Thirty Flights of Loving. Around the podcast's 46-minute mark, Gaynor explains that though Gone Home essentially takes place in the real world, it includes connections to both the BioShock and System Shock franchises.

"In a totally non-litigious way, we very lightly imply that it also takes place in the same universe as BioShock," Gaynor says of Gone Home.

That connection links to Minerva's Den downloadable content for BioShock 2, a title Gaynor worked on. In the DLC, players can find a video game created in the ‘50s called Spitfire. Gone Home pays homage to this with Super Nintendo title Super Spitfire. Even the game's publisher, CMP Interactive, is a nod to Minerva's Den protagonist Charles Milton Porter.

As for Gone Home and System Shock, Gaynor says, they're linked by implications of BioShock's universe.

"Again in a totally non-litigious way, we very lightly imply that BioShock takes place in the same universe as System Shock," Gaynor continues. "So, in theory, if you were to make a lot of logical leaps, all of those games have been linked together by our ridiculous retconning."

For more on how all three games are slyly linked together, check out the full podcast.