Extended Abstract Presented at DiGRA 2018 © 2018 Authors & Digital Games Research Association DiGRA. Personal and educational classroom use of this paper is allowed, commercial use requires specific permission from the author. Past Stories and Future Worlds: History and Popular Imagination in Fallout 4 Samuel McCready York University 4700 Keele St. Toronto, ON, M3J 1P3 613-806-8086 sml.mccready@gmail.com Keywords Critical Play, History, Narrative, Counterfactual, Interactivity. INTRODUCTION Writing in Digital Games as History, Adam Chapman remarks that, “digital games, in a way quite unlike conventional historical forms, open up the story space to shared authorship… the historical narrative produced in these games is always produced by the actions of both the developer-historian and the player” (Chapman 2016, 34). This framing of the historical video game as distinct from other historical forms, in that it necessitates intervention and action on the part of the player, is helpful in beginning to explore the terrain of this genre and its possibilities for the discipline. In light of this, the purpose of this analysis of the videogame Fallout 4 is twofold. First, I am interested in the ways that Fallout 4 employs history and the genre of the counterfactual in the production of a compelling narrative that not only invites but also compels the player into action to chart a new course for this devastated virtual landscape. And second, I am interested in the possibilities for learning that may unfold through user interaction with this story. This is not simply a question of what Fallout 4 can teach a user about American history or Cold War sentimentality; but rather, how, through interactive gameplay, Fallout 4 challenges the player’s assumption of what history is, how it is told, who tells it, and for what purpose. Or, more simply put, what I refer to broadly as historical knowledge production, and its ideological implications. Set in the post- apocalyptic landscape of Massachusetts, Fallout 4 unfolds in a variety of historical sites in Massachusetts (Concord, Lexington, Boston), which serve to anchor the main story while simultaneously grounding a sense of optimism for the future in the tradition of ‘the American spirit.’ At the same time, these virtual-historical landmarks and storylines reveal the major tension at work in the game, one between the hopeful optimism associated with forging a new path forward and utter despair at the state this future world. That is, between a belief in the power of American tradition weighted against the reality of death, destruction and loss that constantly bombard the screen from every angle. At one and the same time then, the game combines real historical elements with a fictionalized reimagining of the outcome of the Cold War (the ‘Cold’ War goes hot) to present a critical rereading of Cold War experiences. The power of counterfactual history lies in its capacity to unravel assumptions about the static nature of historical events, and in its denial of a linear trajectory of history broadly. In essence, the counterfactual upends conventional and popular presentations of history and problematizes attempts to establish