Elizabeth was originally going to be mute, because Irrational Games wasn't confident in their ability to create a talking companion character, and were worried that repetitive chatter or quips would annoy the player. However, they felt that having to focus the camera on her for her to communicate visually interrupted the player's experience too much, and was also annoying. They were faced with the decision to either cut her completely, or commit to making her a speaking character, and the decision was very controversial around the studio at the time.