History AlternateHistory / VideoGames

* Used subtly in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'', to explain the differences in construction styles from history (which to the expert border on SchizoTech, but to the layman are nearly invisible and easily justifiable through SceneryPorn and RuleOfCool) and also to insert the [[MurderInc Assassins]] and the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Templars]] into the political mix. So, you have several buildings in a Gothic style that wouldn't come in vogue for hundreds of years, and several people who died historically during the time of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' were "revealed" to have been killed by Altair (your targets in-game). Also, the TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture framing story, with plagues sending people illegally migrating to Mexico and year round hurricanes, not to mention the presence of the Animus itself, suggest a far different history than our own. However, this is all covered up by the Templars.

** Generally speaking, a lot of discrepancies in ''Assassin's Creed'' concerning some locations is at least partly justified with the FramingDevice of the Animus--simply put, the game isn't portraying history exactly as it was in-universe ''or'' in real-life, but a computer reconstruction of it--and the in-game encyclopedia even lampshades it at time (the Queen's Staircase in Nassau in ''AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' is explicitly stated to be included because it's such an iconic landmark despite not being built for half a century after the game takes place). Some others are justified by being a result of real-life hardware limitations, such as the attempt on Lorenzo de Medici's life in the second game taking place ''outside'' the Florence Cathedral instead of inside like it actually did because the developers couldn't get the scene to take place inside and then move outside. Most of the others can be handwaved by incomplete historical records in real-life, such as Anne Bonny's role in ''Black Flag'' working because no one really knows what happened to her after 1720.

** According to the website for the first game the point of divergence for the timeline was Spain declaring war on the United States before the USS Maine incident. For some reason after that event, the White Russians won the Russian Civil War, the United States did not pass the Smooth-Hawley Tariff Act so it only faced a recession instead of the Great Depression, and without economic collapse Germany stayed with the Weimar Republic until all of Europe fell to the Chimera.

* The prologue of ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' has World War II continue onward into 1946... and [[CurbStompBattle going horribly for the Allies]]. The Nazis eventually conquer Britain, the Soviet Union and China, betray Italy and Japan, and force the United States to unconditionally surrender by nuking New York. [[VillainWorld The Nazis won the war and conquered the planet]]. Luckily, we still have [[{{Badass}} one man]]:

* Starting with ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' has suggested that it takes place in one of these, as one of the levels in ''City'' revolves around a place called Wonder City, which Gotham was built on top of, having technology powered by one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits and fully-functioning robots, and a partially-crumbled plaque above the gates of the titular Arkham City suggests the prison was opened sometime during the 1990s, rather than the 2000s (as ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Asylum]]'' was released in 2009) or 2010s (as ''City'' was released in 2011). A sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins Arkham Orgins]]'' had functional automobiles in 1855, as opposed to cars only first showing up in the 20th century, and in general a lot of technology was more advanced than what was around in 2001 (canonically, ''Asylum'' takes place eight years after ''Origins''). ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Knight]]'' has Deathstroke, who is 55 around the game[[note]]his age was listed in ''Origins'' as 45 and ''Knight'' canonically takes place 10 years after it[[/note]], suggest that like his comics counterpart, he took part in the UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.

* Starting with ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' has suggested that it takes place in one of these, as one of the levels in ''City'' revolves around a place called Wonder City, which Gotham was built on top of, having technology powered by one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits and fully-functioning robots, and a partially-crumbled plaque above the gates of the titular Arkham City suggests the prison was opened sometime during the 1990s, rather than the 2000s (as ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Asylum]]'' was released in 2009) or 2010s (as ''City'' was released in 2011). A sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins Arkham Orgins]]'' had functional automobiles in 1855, as opposed to cars only first showing up in the 20th century, and in general a lot of technology was more advanced than what was around in 2001[[note]]canonically, ''Asylum'' takes place eight years after ''Origins''[[/note]]. ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Knight]]'' has Deathstroke, who is 55 around the game[[note]]his age was listed in ''Origins'' as 45 and ''Knight'' canonically takes place 10 years after it[[/note]], suggest that like his comics counterpart, he took part in the UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.

** The US invaded Mexico and annexed Canada.

** ''The Tyranny of King Washington'', the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' expansions, asks WhatIf UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington had accepted the title of King instead of President.

* ''VideoGame/{{DEFCON}}'' is a [[BlackComedy tongue-firmly-in-cheek]] {{RTS}} that lets you spark WorldWarThree and the following EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. However, its underlying hidden message about NuclearWar is very serious in tone.

** The ''Sunset Invasion'' DLC for ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings II'' guarantees it, creating an alternate history where the Aztecs invade Europe in the Middle Ages.

* Starting with ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' has suggested that it takes place in one of these, as one of the levels in ''City'' revolves around a place called Wonder City, which Gotham was built on top of, having technology powered by one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits and fully-functioning robots, and a partially-crumbled plaque above the gates of the titular Arkham City suggests the prison was opened sometime during the 1990s, rather than the 2000s (as ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Asylum]]'' was released in 2009) or 2010s (as ''City'' was released in 2011). A sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins Arkham Orgins]]'' had functional automobiles in 1855, as opposed to cars only first showing up in the 20th century, and in general a lot of technology was more advanced that was around in 2001[[note]]canonically, ''Asylum'' takes place eight years after ''Origins''[[/note]]. ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Knight]]'' has Deathstroke, who is 55 around the game[[note]]his age was listed in ''Origins'' as 45 and ''Knight'' canonically takes place 10 years after it[[/note]], suggest that like his comics counterpart, he took part in the UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.

* Starting with ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' has suggested that it takes place in one of these, as one of the levels in ''City'' revolves around a place called Wonder City, which Gotham was built on top of, having technology powered by one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits and fully-functioning robots, and a partially-crumbled plaque above the gates of the titular Arkham City suggests the prison was opened sometime during the 1990s, rather than the 2000s (as ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Asylum]]'' was released in 2009) or 2010s (as ''City'' was released in 2011). A sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins Arkham Orgins]]'' had functional automobiles in 1855, as opposed to cars only first showing up in the 20th century, and in general a lot of technology was more advanced that was around in 2001[[note]]canonically, ''Asylum'' takes place eight years after ''Origins''[[/note]]. ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Knight]]'' has Deathstroke, who is 55 around the game[[note]]his age was listed in ''Origins'' as 45 and ''Knight'' canonically takes place 10 years after it[[/note]], suggest that like his canon counterpart, he took part in the UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.

* Starting with ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' has suggested that it takes place in one of these, as one of the levels in ''City'' revolves around a place called Wonder City, which Gotham was built on top of, having technology powered by one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits and fully-functioning robots, and a partially-crumbled plaque above the gates of the titular Arkham City suggests the prison was opened sometime during the 1990s, rather than the 2000s (as ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Asylum]]'' was released in 2009) or 2010s (as ''City'' was released in 2011). A sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins Arkham Orgins]]'' had functional automobiles in 1855, as opposed to cars only first showing up in the 20th century, and in general a lot of technology was more advanced that was around in 2001[[note]]canonically, ''Asylum'' takes place eight years after ''Origins''[[/note]]. ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Knight]]'' has Deathstroke who is 55 around the game[[note]]his age was listed in ''Origins'' as 45 and ''Knight'' canonically takes place 10 years after it[[/note]], suggest that like his canon counterpart, he took part in the UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.

* Starting with ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' has suggested that it takes place in one of these, as one of the levels in ''City'' revolves around a place called Wonder City, which Gotham was built on top of, having technology powered by one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits and fully-functioning robots, and a partially-crumbled plaque above the gates of the titular Arkham City suggests the prison was opened sometime during the 1990s, rather than the 2000s (as ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Asylum]]'' was released in 2009) or 2010s (as ''City'' was released in 2011). A sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins Arkham Orgins]]'' had functional automobiles in 1855, as opposed to cars only first showing up ion the 20th century, and technology more advanced that what was possible in 2001[[note]]canonically, ''Asylum'' takes place eight years after ''Origins''[[/note]]. ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Knight]]'' has Deathstroke who is 55 around the game[[note]]his age was listed in ''Origins'' as 45 and ''Knight'' canonically takes place 10 years after it[[/note]], suggest that like his canon counterpart, he took part in the UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.

* Starting with ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Arkham City]]'', the ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' has suggested that it takes place in one of these, as one of the levels in ''City'' revolves around a place called Wonder City, which Gotham was built on top of, having technology powered by one of Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus pits and fully-functioning robots, and a partially-crumbled plaque above the gates of the titular Arkham City suggests the prison was opened sometime during the 1990s, rather than the 2000s (as ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum Asylum]]'' was released in 2009) or 2010s (as ''City'' was released in 2011). A sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins Arkham Orgins]]'' had functional automobiles in 1855, as opposed to cars only first showing up ion the 20th century, and technology more advanced that what was possible in 2001[[note]]canonically, ''Asylum'' takes place eight years after ''Origins[[/note]]. ''[[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight Knight]]'' has Deathstroke who is 55 around the game[[note]]his age was listed in ''Origins'' as 45 and ''Knight'' canonically takes place 10 years after it[[/note]], suggest that like his canon counterpart, he took part in the UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar.

* The game ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters'' takes place in an alternate history in which two key things changed - first, the Soviets invented the atomic bomb and used it to end the UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo in Europe, and secondly, the Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved in their favor. The strategic and political repercussions of these changes allowed the Soviet Union not only to survive, but to begin an invasion of the US in the early 21st century.

** Practically inevitable in the hideously complicated strategy game ''VideoGame/VictoriaAnEmpireUnderTheSun''. Encompasses the entire globe and allows dozens of playable factions, from 1836 to 1920. VictorianBritain, UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar, UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne, JidaiGeki, DarkestAfrica, you name it, it's there for the changing. The main menu art for the second game depicts a gunfight between Confederate troops and ''British redcoats''.

* ''VideoGame/CovertFront'' has three main points of divergence: a technological revolution in the 19th century that leads to a SteamPunk world, UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne beginning in 1901, and scientists [[spoiler:inventing a device that can spontaneously create whatever a hooked-up person is thinking of]].

* ''Enigma: Rising Tide'' is a naval simulation game set in alternate 1937, where Imperial Germany (now called the German Weltreich) dominates Europe, as a result of the RMS ''Lusitania'' never being sunk, and the US never joining UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne. There are three sides in the game: Germany (maintaining a large fleet of U-boats and battleships), US (carriers and destroyers), and the League of Free Nations (submarines and the HMS ''Hood''). The LFN is composed of Imperial Japan and the British government-in-exile headed by Churchill. Interestingly, the ending of chapter 1 (chapter 2 was never made due to the developer going out of business) implies that the Americans are evil in this version of history, as their surprise attack on Scapa Flow, crippling the German fleet, has clear parallels to Pearl Harbor in our history. Chancellor von Richthofen (yes, [[RedBaron that one]]) gives a speech eerily similar to FDR's own following the attack and declares the end of the age of the battleship. The ending cutscene shows the ''Bismark'' and the ''Tirpitz'' being converted into a new class of ship - the battlecarrier, featuring a flight deck but still having large forward-facing guns.

* ''VideoGame/BodyHarvest'' starts out as this. The aliens attack in 1916 in the middle of UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne, and then slowly annihilate mankind by returning once every 25 years to consume entire countries.

* While the [[{{Videogame/Homefront}} first game]] was initially a [[TwentyMinuteIntoTheFuture future history]], ''VideoGame/HomefrontTheRevolution'' is explicitly set in an alternate timeline. North Korea lost the Korean war and embraced a progressive free market economy instead of communism or juche. After the disastrous failure of Apollo 10 forced the US to cancel their space program, the Soviets, who are still alive and well in the 21st century, were the first to land a man on the moon in 1971. This feat inspired North Korea, leading to an era of technological and economic growth throughout the 70's and the rise of the MegaCorp APEX, who hired people such as Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak. Kim-il Sung lost credibility after a series of floods devastated the country, which resulted in APEX taking control and North Korea becoming a corpocracy that manufactures the world's highest demanded technology, including weapons. The 2003 invasion of Iraq caused the situation in the middle east to spiral out of control, bringing the US into further military interventions in Iran, Syria, and Egypt. President John McCain's unwillingness to back down on these American military activity in these regions, especially with Soviet control over many oil fields, lead to a smuggled Iranian nuke being detonated in Riyadh. This triggered civil unrest in the United States at the same time as the subprime mortgage crisis, resulting in a state of emergency, the suspension of the 2016 elections, and the US defaulting on its debt to APEX. North Korea saw this as an opportunity and invaded the country under the pretext of a humanitarian mission, using secret back doors they'd established to literally shut down America's military.

* While the [[{{Videogame/Homefront}} first game]] was initially a [[TwentyMinuteIntoTheFuture future history]], ''VideoGame/HomefrontTheRevolution'' is explicitly set in an alternate timeline. North Korea lost the Korean war and embraced a progressive free market economy instead of communism or juche. After the disastrous failure of Apollo 10 forced the US to cancel their space program, the Soviets, who are still alive and well in the 21st century, were the first to land a man on the moon in 1971. This feat inspired North Korea, leading to an era of technological and economic growth throughout the 70's and the rise of the MegaCorp APEX, who hired people such as Bill Gates and Steve Wozniak. Kim-il Sung lost credibility after a series of floods devastated the country, which resulted in APEX taking control and North Korea becoming a corpocracy that manufactures the world's highest demanded technology, including weapons. The 2003 invasion of Iraq caused the situation in the middle east to spiral out of control, bringing the US into further military interventions in Iran, Syria, and Egypt. President John McCain's unwillingness to back down on these American military activity in these regions, especially with Soviet control over many oil fields, lead to a smuggled Iranian nuke being detonated in Riyadh. This triggered civil unrest in the United States at the same time as the subprime mortgage crisis, resulting in a state of emergency and the suspension of the 2016 elections. North Korea saw this as an opportunity and invaded the country under the pretext of a humanitarian mission.

* ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life}}'' and it's expandalones are set in 200X, though it is commonly agreed among fans to be set in 2003. Due to the Black Mesa Incident, the multi-dimensional empire referred to as "the Combine" took control of Earth and are still in control as of 202X.

* The old PlayStation2 game ''VideoGame/RingOfRed'' asks what if the atomic bombs were never dropped, and instead, the US and Soviet Union invaded Japan... Oh, and what if HumongousMecha were developed in the war.

* ''BattlestationsPacific'', has an entire campaign based around this, ending in [[spoiler: the US signing a surrender treaty on the Californian shore.]]