Actually, the farther way the speakers are from the angles specified in the 7.1 format (see https://www.dolby.com/about/support/guide/speaker-setup-guid...) worse will be the localization accuracy. And if the the person is not sitting centered relative to the loudspeakers, but closer to one of the loudspeakers localization can completely collapse, and it will sound like the sound only comes from the closest loudspeaker.

In the case of gamers, they are usually centered relative to the loudspeakers, and usually the loudspeakers tend to be placed symmetrical to the computer screen, so the problem is not so bad.

For cinema viewers sitting in the cinema the problem is much worse, most of the audience is off center... That is why 7.1 has a center loudspeakers, the dialogue is sent directly there to make sure that at least the dialogue comes the right direction.