The cards used for mining run almost 24/7 so while some people wouldn't care so long as the cost was friendly, if I were in the gamer's shoes
Gaming exerts heat/cooling cycles on the video card while mining is a stable 24/7 load. Gaming power usage is higher than mining for most coins. Heat cycles tend to crack solder joints over time, which is the most common reason a video card becomes defective.
But unfortunately, logic & reason does not matter to gamers, so they can continue experiencing higher failure rates.