For the first time ever I joined a voice call while playing a game (among us) and as soon as I said something everyone immediately started going "Is that a female??" "You're a female??" "There are females here??" I get that it was supposed to be a joke but fuck it felt so alienating to be bombarded with that in my first attempt at gaming socially
Yes. Have you ever been on Xbox voice chat?
That said I tend to mean it as overall. You can absolutely find PC gamer groups and even probably games with atmospheres a hundred times more toxic than Xbox live over-all, but there are enough that aren't so bad I think it balances out. I mean I've seen increasing amounts of reactionary behavior.
Honestly I haven't played on Xbox in recent year so it's definitely possible things have changed.
I'd say you find more extreme behavior in certain places online. I've seen literal unapologetic, open, spreading-the-ideology-in-chat fascists in online games with names that support people like Anders Brevik to Pinochet and beyond. That said it tends to be something that pops up for a bit in chat then goes away. But the fact it isn't moderated but someone who says "fuck you" back is handed a ban is basically emblematic of the civility fetishism in action, in that you can be an open fascist and ponder that maybe certain groups should be done away with and even name those groups, as long as you don't use naughty words to do so you won't be actioned but heaven forbid you make the game unsafe for the ears of the precious children by using foul language.
Gamers 100% need to be persecuted. Their culture is scum and only getting worse.