Pick Gray Zone Warfare if you want the biggest, best-looking solo-capable mil-sim and you do not mind early access, and pick Incursion Red River if you want a pure PvE extraction loop with zero chance of another player ever hunting you. Both are excellent, both are built for players like us, and I own both because the table never quite captured what happened when I stopped comparing menus and just played, which is why these are the two extraction shooters I push hardest on this channel. If you have decided you want the loot-and-extract loop without other humans hunting you, it usually comes down to these two, and you will also see the first one searched as grey zone warfare, which is the same game.
| Gray Zone Warfare | Incursion Red River | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Big-budget mil-sim spectacle | A pure, no-PvP PvE loop |
| PvP risk | PvP is optional and secondary | None: PvE and co-op only |
| Official identity | Now officially PvE-first | PvE and co-op from day one |
| Scale and visuals | Huge, stunning (Lamang) | Modest but tightly focused |
| Price model | Paid early access, the pricier of the two | Paid early access, the cheaper entry |
| Solo viable | Yes, whole game playable solo | Yes, built for it |
| Difficulty feel | Slow, long-range, atmospheric | Tight spaces, dense enemy waves |
| Momentum | 1.5M+ copies, PvE-first pivot | On a steady update roll |
| Roadmap | Battle Forge crafting, smarter AI | Campaign, Outskirts, new maps |
| WillyB’s pick | My number one, most played | The criminally underrated one |
What I thought the comparison was
For a long time the internet treated this as a finished argument, with Gray Zone Warfare as the pretty early access mil-sim that still had PvP in its bones and Incursion as the smaller PvE toy you mentioned if you were being thorough. I played both anyway, because people follow people and I try to follow the session, which has outlasted every version of this argument I have read.
The session that changed how I talk about them was a raid rather than a patch notes evening, because I dropped into Incursion’s Quarry with two missions and a shopping list, then refused to extract, the way I roam Lamang, and the AI hunted me. That write-up is I played Incursion like it was Gray Zone Warfare, an invoice the versus page cannot show you, and the table above is still true and still incomplete.
How MADFINGER moved, and why Incursion never had to
MADFINGER has now officially repositioned Gray Zone Warfare as PvE-first, which Insider Gaming reported, and I broke down in Gray Zone Warfare is officially PvE-first now. GZW always had AI factions and a PvE-friendly way to play, and it was originally designed with PvP options in mind, so that emphasis has shifted, Joint Operations is the front door, and PvP is the secondary slot.
The same rooms that used to tell solo players they were playing GZW wrong now talk as if the studio invented the idea, which is fine, because I was already on Lamang alone, and the rebrand is useful without being a conversion. If you bounced off GZW because you thought you had to PvP, the current identity is the honest one, and if you bounced off because early access bit you, that bite is still there.
Incursion never needed a rebrand, because it has been almost entirely PvE and co-op from the ground up, with no real player-versus-player pressure to worry about at all, so if your single hard requirement is zero chance of ever running into another player, Incursion still edges it structurally. The gap has narrowed, and it has not vanished, which is the part I will not tidy away to make the choice feel simpler than it is.
How the two of them actually punish you
Gray Zone Warfare is the more ambitious, better-looking game, because the island of Lamang is stunning, the scope is huge, and it feels like a big-budget production, while Incursion is more modest in scale and visuals and makes up for it with focus. It is not trying to be everything, it is trying to be a really good PvE extraction shooter, and it largely succeeds, so if you want spectacle and a world you can get lost in, GZW, and if you want a tight, no-filler experience, Incursion.
They punish you differently, because Gray Zone Warfare is slow, deliberate and long-range, and Lamang is dangerous because the sightlines are long, the guards are lethal, and a careless approach to a hotspot gets you deleted from three hundred metres away. Incursion tends to be tighter and more intense, capable of throwing dense waves of enemies at you in a smaller space, which is exactly why I keep pushing its higher enemy-count runs, and if you stay out and make noise the game comes looking. In GZW I can take a long walk and the island sometimes shrugs, which is not an insult so much as the reason I disappear into one and get hunted in the other, and neither is a casual shooter, since both have punished me for briefly forgetting that.
Price, patches, and the boring bit that still decides a buy
Both are paid early access rather than free-to-play, so neither is a zero-cost try, and Gray Zone Warfare is the pricier, bigger-budget product while Incursion Red River is the cheaper entry. If budget is the deciding factor, Incursion is the smaller outlay and gives you the purest version of the no-PvP loop for less, and if you want the flagship and do not mind paying more for scale and polish, GZW justifies it.
Incursion has been on a roll, with a campaign, proper player levelling, safehouse upgrades, an overhauled economy and the Outskirts update, and more maps and weapons on the way, which I covered in the Incursion roadmap for 2026 and what is next after Outskirts. Gray Zone Warfare has the bigger long-term roadmap, including gear crafting through Battle Forge and AI improvements, which I broke down here, and it recently passed 1.5 million copies sold on the back of its 0.4.5 update, covered in the 0.4.5 patch notes and by Insider Gaming. Both developers are clearly committed for the long haul, early access still means rough edges in both, and I would not sell you either as finished.
Which one I boot, and when I boot both
If you want the most complete, best-looking solo-capable extraction experience and you do not mind it being an early access work in progress, Gray Zone Warfare is my number one, the one I play most, and it is now officially built around PvE players. If you want the purest PvE extraction loop with the least faff, for less money, a game built specifically for the no-squad crowd, Incursion Red River is the one, and it is criminally underrated.
There is no wrong answer here, because both respect your time and your preference for playing without toxic lobbies, which is exactly why this channel champions them both, and if you can only pick one then spectacle and scale point to GZW while purity and price point to Incursion. If you have evenings, own both, which is what I do, and I am not going to pretend the second install was a mistake.
If you want to judge Incursion’s side of this for yourself, I made the case in The New King of Tactical Shooters, Incursion Red River 1.3 part 1. The deeper verdicts before you buy are is Gray Zone Warfare worth it in 2026 and is Incursion Red River worth it in 2026, and if your one hard rule is never seeing another player, also read can you play Gray Zone Warfare solo and offline. The whole field, if you want it before either install, is the best solo PvE extraction shooters of 2026.
Dig into the full runs on WillyB’s Gray Zone Warfare and WillyB’s Incursion Red River, or let the extraction shooter matcher make the call for you.
FAQ
Should I play Incursion Red River or Gray Zone Warfare?
Gray Zone Warfare if you want the most complete, best-looking solo-capable experience and you do not mind early access, because it is now officially PvE-first, which is the studio catching up to how I already played it. Incursion Red River if you want the purest PvE loop with zero chance of a rival player, and I own both, so I would not swap them for each other.
Which is cheaper, Incursion Red River or Gray Zone Warfare?
Incursion Red River is the cheaper entry, and Gray Zone Warfare is the pricier, bigger-budget product with the larger world, while both are paid early access rather than free-to-play, so neither is a zero-cost try. If budget is the deciding factor, Incursion is the smaller outlay, which is the honest answer before anyone starts talking about scale.
Which has less chance of meeting other players, Incursion or Gray Zone Warfare?
Incursion Red River, because it is almost entirely PvE and co-op from the ground up, so there is no rival-player pressure at all, while Gray Zone Warfare was originally designed with PvP options in mind. MADFINGER has since repositioned it as PvE-first, and you can run the entire game solo or co-op against AI in Joint Operations with no other players, though structurally Incursion is still the one with zero chance.
Which is the bigger, better-looking game?
Gray Zone Warfare, and it is not close, because the island of Lamang is stunning and it feels like a big-budget production, while Incursion is more modest in scale but tightly focused. If raw spectacle and world size matter most, Gray Zone Warfare wins that side comfortably, and I would still not call Incursion a baby version of it.
Which is harder, Incursion Red River or Gray Zone Warfare?
Both will delete you for being careless, because Gray Zone Warfare leans into slow, long-range, atmospheric tension across huge distances, while Incursion can throw dense waves at you in a tighter space, and if you stay out and make noise the AI comes looking. I found that out in Quarry when I refused to extract, and neither is a casual shooter.
Can you play both Incursion Red River and Gray Zone Warfare solo?
Yes, Incursion is built for the no-squad crowd from the ground up, and Gray Zone Warfare is fully solo capable inside a bigger mil-sim, while now that it is officially PvE-first the whole game can be played alone against AI. I do both, which is why this comparison exists, and I would not have written it from a menu.
Should I buy Gray Zone Warfare or Incursion Red River first?
If you have never played either, start with the one that matches your priority, so buy Gray Zone Warfare first if you want the flagship, best-looking experience and the bigger long-term roadmap, and buy Incursion first if you want the cheaper, purest, no-PvP loop and the fastest route to a stress-free solo raid. Neither is a wrong first pick, and I would not tell you to skip the other forever.
What is on the roadmap for each game?
Incursion has added a campaign, player levelling, safehouse upgrades, an overhauled economy and the Outskirts update, with more maps and weapons on the way, while Gray Zone Warfare has the bigger long-term roadmap, including gear crafting through Battle Forge, AI improvements and its ongoing PvE-first expansion. It has now passed 1.5 million copies sold, and both studios are still building in public.
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