by now it's a well worn/used trope to make -gate names for any scandal. But the distance in time (and culture) to the original Watergate scandal is growing, so it seems less impactful now.
Evem not knowing the history of Watergate, it's a meme now. A few months ago in a spanish speaking country there was a case known as "Rolexgate": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolexgate
As a data point: I can honestly say I’ve never heard of Gamergate before this comment, and I am a 31-year-old white male. I did read a book on Watergate when I was in my teens, though.
GamerGate is well worth understanding. While some of the details are unique to the situation, it’s provided a template for right-wing radicalisation that’s been employed multiple times since. There’s also an entertaining “where are they now” aspect where some people have been almost forgotten and some are in the White House. KotakoInAction is still going and has (inevitably) morphed into a bunch of people complaining about the Lūgenpresse.
Let’s just say that I think it’s an important event and understanding how a guy harassing his ex-girlfriend became a formative moment in alt-right history is fascinating, but I really don’t want to get drawn into arguments with anyone who’s still drinking that particular kool-aid.
I thought the series made by some journalist was very interesting, I don't remember her name, and I don't remember so much of gamergate. But I'm definitely not a core part of either group there..
