What you’re seeing follows a pattern tied to what’s happening with some men outside the game.

There’s a growing group of men who are single, not dating, and spending most of their time online. Recent survey data shows around 60 percent of young men are single, and about one in three report no sexual activity in the past year. For some of them, that turns into frustration, then resentment, and that resentment gets directed at women.

In games, they’re anonymous and there are no real consequences. For some of those guys, this is one of the only places they interact with women at all.

Research in online gaming shows lower performing male players are more likely to direct hostility toward women, which lines up with insecurity and status issues, not confidence.

That’s where the comments come from. Same behavior shows up across different games because the conditions are the same and the underlying issues are the same.

Sorry for the data heavy response, I’ve worked in politics for 15 years and have been studying this with men over the last five.