Two necessary components for friendship are extended presence and shared struggle.

That is, you need to be around the same set of people for a non-trivial amount of time. Relationships need time to form.

But that is not enough. Just being around people doesn’t tell you much about them, or tells them much about you. There’s no basis to bond over. You need to experience the same hardship as someone else.

In 1v1 games, that’s surely harder but not impossible, if you’re e.g. struggling to improve yourself, or trying to succeed in spite of the game being a bit shitty. Try thinking of a shared objective. Only ever wanting to defeat others is ultimately alienating.

When Squadron 42 finally comes out, it’ll just be considered commentary on contemporary issues. Basically like Job Simulator… in space