Hardcore gamer = someone who plays only cinematic grizzed white dude games and/or military fetishizing FPS
Casual gamer = anyone that is not a 15-25 yo male, and/or plays anything outside of the previously mentioned games, especially if those games are colorful.
So basically the gaming community is full of gatekeeping, misogyny, toxic masculinity and general chuddery. They make sure they're the loudest voice heard when anything about games is talked about, and won't be happy until all games a homogenous stream of bland, hyper-realistic but with a grey filter slog of mindless action with no heart or soul. And don't you dare force them to read any dialogue or story.
I'm pretty sure Dark Souls, general Soulsborne challenge me senpai games, and JRPGs that lean into fan service anime tropes please the modern "hardcore gamer" crowd a lot more than God of War, The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption 2 and other "realistic", cinematic games.