Gaming & Internet Culture · gaming

By Deimos EMK · Published Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Sep 17, 2026 · 5 min read · AI-drafted, source-checked

Via GIPHY (@PlayNewWorld)

• StatusMainstream
• Typenoun
• Categorygaming
• LaneGaming

See it in action

Video: *NEW* XDEFIANT factions EXPLAINED!, embedded from its original platform.

What it means

In gaming, a faction is an organized group inside the game world that the player can join, side with, or build a relationship with.

In MMOs like New World: Aeternum, factions are a core progression system: once you hit a certain level, you pick one of several competing groups, the Covenant, the Marauders, or the Syndicate, and membership comes with real benefits, which is why guides flat-out recommend joining one as soon as the game lets you.

Faction choice is rarely permanent, either; New World lets you swap factions once every 30 days by completing another faction's introductory questline, so the decision carries weight without being a life sentence.

Outside MMOs the same idea shows up everywhere: pirate games like Windrose have four factions (Brethren, Smugglers, Buccaneers, and the People of Tortuga) that each reward a different playstyle, and tabletop games like Warhammer: Age of Sigmar treat factions as entire playable armies, which is why a leaked new dwarf faction, the Khazalite Holds, was big enough news to get its own reveal show.

The word actually carries two related meanings, and players slide between them without noticing. The first is the group itself: 'I'm with the Starfleet faction' means you belong to that organization. The second is a hidden number, your reputation score with that group.

When someone says 'I need to run some missions to build up KDF faction,' they don't mean joining anything; they mean grinding activities so the game raises the value that controls how that group's NPCs treat them. High faction means friendly NPCs, better rewards, and unlocked content; low faction means cold shoulders or worse.

This is distinct from morality systems like Fallout 3's karma or Mass Effect's Paragon/Renegade scores, because those live inside your character, while faction lives inside each NPC group, every organization remembers you separately.

In community slang, 'faction' has stretched a bit further. Players use it loosely for any team, side, or camp in a game, 'faction wars' in NFT and gacha communities, 'opposing factions' in fandom debates about rival groups in a story, or complaints that a shooter has become 'faction-ambiguous' when its sides all look identical.

The common thread is identity: a faction is the answer to 'whose side are you on?' Whether it's a formal joinable guild with a reputation bar or just two rival aesthetics in a game's lore, calling something a faction frames it as a side you can pick, rep, and argue about, which is exactly why the word thrives in Reddit threads and tier-list posts where players rank and defend their favorites. [1][2][3][4][5]

The receipts

Documented, dated uses of “faction” — each quote is verbatim from the linked source.

Every quote above passed the same verification gate this site publishes under: real source, real date, copied verbatim. See the editorial policy.

Why it's everywhere

Faction talk stays constant in gaming because the mechanic never goes away, every big MMO, live-service game, and gacha title ships with competing groups, and every new one restarts the 'which faction should I join?' conversation.

New World: Aeternum's launch brought a fresh wave of faction guides, and games like Windrose keep the reputation-grind version of the term alive by tying tangible rewards, ship upgrades, crafting recipes, storage, to which group you cozy up to first. Zenless Zone Zero's official account asking players what kind of faction they want to see next shows how baked-in the concept is: developers treat factions as content players actively anticipate.

The word also keeps surfacing in news and fandom moments. The accidental leak of the Khazalite Holds, a new dwarf faction for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, sent tabletop communities into speculation because a new faction means new models, lore, and an army to main.

Meanwhile on Reddit and X, 'faction' shows up in tier lists, 'favorite opposing factions' threads, and criticism of games whose sides feel indistinct, proof the term works both as a mechanic and as a way to judge whether a game's world has any identity worth pledging to.

How it gets used

Totally neutral, standard gaming vocabulary, safe in any context, zero cringe risk.

• “I finally hit 17, which faction should I join, Covenant, Marauders, or Syndicate?”New World: Aeternum Discord or chat
• “Gotta grind some missions tonight, my faction rep with the Buccaneers is way too low.”talking about reputation grinding in a pirate game
• “The leaked dwarf faction looks sick, I'm 100% starting a new army for it.”Warhammer community reacting to the Khazalite Holds reveal
• “Rank the factions based on your playthrough so far, no wrong answers (there are wrong answers).”Reddit tier-list thread
• “Good luck to every faction in the faction wars this weekend!”community event announcement on X

Frequently asked