Gray Zone Warfare players beg to change faction as they can’t join friends

Gray Zone Warfare’s faction system is causing issues during its early access period, as players are calling for the devs to let them switch sides in order to play with friends.

Just like Escape from Tarkov, the new extraction shooter Gray Zone Warfare includes a faction system, breaking up the community into three distinct sides. Once your choice is locked in, however, it cannot be changed until the next progress wipe, unless you’re willing to reset your account altogether.

Although this was clearly designed to give players meaningful choices and create a sense of togetherness between each organization, being unable to change is causing major issues for many players for one simple reason – you can only team up with friends in the same faction.

While this was communicated by the devs before GZW went live, those who missed the memo quickly rattled through the character creator and picked their side, only to find they couldn’t join up with the friends they wanted to play with as they had made a different choice.

Now, players are calling for the devs to lift or ease the restriction and let them switch factions so they can play the game in the way they want to, arguing it could become a “disaster” if left untouched.

Social media has been flooded with posts since early access began, including one from Reddit user ‘Songrot,’ who said: “Friends not knowing they have to be same factions are stuck and many will rather quit than not playing with friends.”

‘TheRealYay0‘ on X agreed, as they messaged the devs: “Please implement a way to change factions before a certain lvl. I’m lvl 8 and literally want to delete all my progression because I can’t play with a single friend.”

In a game that relies so heavily on thoughtful tactics, teamwork, and communication, being left without a squad until the next wipe obviously sucks much of the enjoyment out of the experience. It also limits anyone who buys the game later, as they will essentially be forced into picking whichever faction their friends have already selected.

There are a number of ways the devs could get around this issue. One is to allow players to create multiple characters so they can level up their main, while still having the option to play as a different faction if they want to.

Another is letting players temporarily join a faction while they’re on with friends, before rejoining their old organization at the end of the session.

It’s worth keeping in mind that Gray Zone Warfare is still in early access, so given the sheer number of complaints, there’s every chance the devs could address this issue soon. If you and your friends are wondering which side to choose, you can check out our guide on the best faction to pick.