year is somewhere between 2005-2007
age approximately 13-15 at the time
xbox live
playing Dead or Alive 4
stumble upon a public lobby with friendly chatter/banter etc or something similar. positive enough vibes to stick around
everyone around a similar skill level, nobody straight up stomping. everyone having a good time
we add each other up
everyone being teenagers, we had all the time in the world to play together all day every day (after school/weekends)
we all become close friends, definitely more than just faceless players. everyone sincere and real. We all know about each other's real lives, personalities, etc.
most real friendships i've ever experienced
our friend group travels together across multiple games as we all coordinate the new releases that look good
must have been at least 10 different games during the time
group grows and shrinks and grows again as time passes - people not liking the games we're focused on, arguments between friends, new people we meet in new games - just as a physical club might
always wished to meet up or even live with some of the longer lasting "members"
year, 2011.
everyone feels like things about to close out, we're pretty much down to 5 people or so. everyone going to college/work so no time to play all at the same time like the good old days
as we're getting ready to say our goodbyes, I mention that I'd still be willing to live with anyone of the remaining guys (i'm of age at this point)
the friend that introduced me to everyone, my first and best friend, agrees
i couldn't be happier
he moves in with me in my shitty apartment and it's as if nothing had changed
his real life personality was exactly as it was online
still living with him to this day

We've known each other for more than half of our lives at this point and we've consider each other brothers for quite a while now.

I had a similar experience with the Team Fortress 2 Arena community back when it was active in 2009-2012 or so. I was definitely a centerpoint for everyone gathering together every day to play Arena because servers would fill up when I joined and would generally die after I left (after a few hours). Servers would be dead silent until I opened my mic and suddenly everyone would be cheering and shouting and otherwise enjoying themselves. Must have been at least 100 people that would all play often enough to remember at the time. Still keep in close contact with 4 of them. I've offered for them to move in with me before but no one's willing, I think it's the small generation difference (and maybe real life stuff). I'm about 7 years older than the oldest one, 10 years over the youngest. Still, I'd bail any of them out in a heartbeat.

Needless to say, yes I believe internet friends can be considered real friends, and not in the "turn into real friends" way (even though I got to experience that). I feel/felt honest connections with all of the guys I played with and if they needed some extra money for some real life shit and they promised to pay me back, I'd send over a few hundred. I love them all in the brotherly way and the ones that are still around play a huge role in my daily life even if I don't talk to every single one every single day.

If I could experience even a fraction of this in the real world, I'd love to but I don't think it's feasible. Between there being a limited pool of people that I have access to and have "niche" hobbies (in the way that I don't play AAA garbage), I just can't connect to anyone in reality.