BioShock Infinite: How to get the Golden Gun skins, and how to apply or remove them
We explain about finding, enabling, and deactivating gold skins for your pistol and machine gun.
If you bought BioShock Infinite's Season Pass or own the game via BioShock: The Collection, one of the bonuses you're entitled to is the Early Bird Special Pack. This DLC contains a number of goodies, including damage upgrades and golden skins for the pistol and the machine gun.
Add-ons like this can be a bit of a stress as you try to work out exactly when and where to collect your bonuses in-game, though, as well as raising the question of how to turn off any unwanted cosmetics that come with the more useful perks. On this page we'll show you where to get the Golden Guns in BioShock Infinite, and explain about turning them off later.
How to get the Golden Guns in BioShock Infinite
Bioshock Infinite's Early Bird Special Pack DLC includes some shiny gold skins for both the pistol and machine gun, as well as a damage upgrade. Both the skins and the upgrade should be included and installed in the guns from the beginning or once you purchase and install the DLC, meaning that you won't need to select them.
Some players have reported issues with the skins appearing, but they should've been applied by the time you get through to the restaurant where the Lutece twins give you your first Infusion. If it hasn't happened by then, you may need to start a new game for the skins to trigger.
How to disable the Golden Gun skins in BioShock Infinite
Bad news if you hate bling: there is currently no way to disable the golden skins or the damage upgrade on either the machine gun or the pistol once you have them, so if you don't like them, you'll have to pick up different kinds of guns you don't have the gold skins for. You can't even drop them and pick up a different machine gun or pistol; the dull metal plating on all guns of these types turns to gold the moment Booker touches them.
There is a workaround for players on Steam, but only if you don't mind losing the other perks of the Early Bird DLC as well. Go to BioShock Infinite in your game library and choose "Manage DLC" and you should be able to untick the Early Bird pack (although this may vary depending on which version of the game you own). Players on other platforms could presumably also try uninstalling the offending bit of DLC, although again, this will likely depend on where and how you own your copy of the game. Thanks to u/Nixon7 on Reddit for pointing out the potential workaround!
Gaudy displays of excessive capitalism from your protagonist are arguably against the point of BioShock Infinite, but at least there's other things you can do in the game to take your mind off of your inescapable wealth. Maybe you want to know how to solve all the Ciphers and Codes in Bioshock Infinite, or understand the consequences of choosing the Bird or the Cage for Elizabeth's pendant?