How do you make ACTUAL male friends as a male?

My wife and I are both into anime and different types of video games. She seems to be able to join social groups and come away with friends who will actually go out of their way to talk to her outside of the social setting. They end up texting, talking about likes and dislikes, sending each other gifts in the mail, etc...
I know men and women are generally wired differently, but I can't seem to get anywhere near this level of "friendship" as a male with other men. Even if I meet someone in discord, we game and talk for a bit, end up finding out we like a lot of similar things, etc... When the actual play session is over, there is no interest on their part to talk. They really only want to talk in the group setting, or when we're gaming. If I end up trying to form a friendship, message them and say "Hey, did you see the new chapter of "x manga we both like", I get one-word answers and basically never hear from them again.
It feels like my fellow men are only interested in social interaction that's aided by something we are actively doing together. Like talking in an open discord channel or actively doing co-op/pvp in Dark Souls or something.
How can I find male friends who actually want to talk privately about interests? I can meet a dude who basically has all my exact interests, we laugh and have an awesome time, then they basically never talk to me again unless they need help in pvp during a game or something.
I'm not looking for some mushy heart to heart with a dude where we literally talk all day, but it would be nice to meet someone who wants to chat casually a couple times a week and will say "what's up dude? How you doing." once in a while.
Edit: Based on the comments here, I feel obligated to point out that I understand real life socialization works best. However, my area is in very heavy covid lockdown. Going to the gym, game shops, social meetups, etc... Is not possible right now, and I have no idea when it will be. I was starting to go out and do this exact thing when Covid hit. I appreciate the help, but I need suggestions outside of "getting out more IRL" please.


Source.