There is definitely an addiction factor into this, so many online games now have mechanics and matchmaking systems that are designed speciffically to keep you playing. Battle passes, seasons, hidden MMR in casual games, and FOMO inducing deals are pretty effective at keeping people playing

I honestly dont see why people get so attached to competitive games they clearly don't enjoy, and I know that the sunken cost fallacy is really strong when you have spent hundreds of hours on a game but if you dont even enjoy it then you really should quit. Like why keep going at that point.