Perhaps your issue is unrelated, but I experienced an annoying play in the shift selector myself immediately after buying my car. This was the solution that fixed the problem for me:
https://www.instructables.com/Vauxhall-F23-Gear-Stick-Lever-Shift-Selector-Unit-/
If you scroll down on the website they describe the cause as following:
The nylon bush within the gear shift mechanism wears causing excess movement and gear shift faults.
Within the gear shifter unit is a nylon plastic bush which rotates on a ball joint. Over time the soft nylon wears leading to excess movement on the ball joint which manifest itself as excess play in gear selection. This excess play allows the gearstick to move up and down inside the mechanism leading to a loose feeling when selecting gears or can even make it difficult to select certain gears. Previously the only solution to this issue was to replace the entire gear shift assembly as the bush was not available as an individual part.
Hope this might work for you!