Except, ten years ago "older folk" COULD enjoy much less competitive online multiplayer experiences. I place the moment Call of Duty started spawning you randomly during team deathmatch as the marker. Instead of spawning in a safe zone with clearish "Fronts" to approach and attack and plan around. Instead, you spawn randomly, often with your back to an enemy, and half the time you spawn you instead have an enemy's back to you. I hypothesize that quick "yeah I got a kill" made the game more attractive to kids, and not allowing you to plan and implement any sort of individual strategy other than "click heads faster than the other guy" made online games more demanding in ability.

Online multiplayer doesn't have to be competitive, though, and co-op seems to be growing in popularity after PvP peaked a while ago.