In the face, the statement seems unlikely: in addition to being the richest man in the world, the CEO of multiple companies and a key consultant of President Trump, Elon Musk says he is also a world -class video game player.
It is a statement that Mr. Musk has repeated over the years. He has an account on X, his social media platform, dedicated to the publication of the salient moments of his gameplay. He streamed with some of the best competitive video game players in the world on platforms such as Twitch. He even engraved his name on the global rankings of some games.
But last week, the community of players who tried long to impress against him. It started with a live streaming by Mr. Musk Playing Path of Exile 2, a popular action role -playing game known for its difficulty. Although his report showed that he had earned one of the highest levels of the game, his gameplay seemed to be that of an amateur.
Internet Sleuths made YouTube videos and took the Reddit thread to dissect his gameplay, exposing the errors that a novice would have made. Other players stressed that Mr. Musk’s exile journey was active sometimes that he could not play alone, like Monday morning, while he was at the inauguration of Mr. Trump. The state of the account of Mr. Musk indicated that he had been carried out in the game and inside a “map”, which meant it was possible – even if it is not certain – that someone was playing at the account while Mr. Musk was sitting behind Mr. Trump.
“How are you?” A streamer wondered while looking at a divided screen of the game and Mr. Musk on the Rotunda Campidoglio, while Mr. Trump was swearing. “How are you in the sulfur caves right now, Elon?”
Thousands of players led to X to accuse Mr. Musk to “increase” his account, or to pay for updates on third -party websites or take people to play his accounts for him. It was the equivalent of playing the stolen value.
It is rare that something that the billionaire touches, whether it is launching rockets or killing the digital goat, translates into anything except in controversy. But for Mr. Musk, “Hardcore Gamer” is a fundamental part of the identity he has tried to project: a policy nerd nerd that is an equal car magnate, spatial and serial technology entrepreneur.
Although it has become one of the most powerful people of the Trump administration, he did everything to show that he appreciates the culture of video games. And among Mr. Musk’s very online and very male fandom, the great game skills are something to admire.
“He wants people to really look at him,” said Rod Breslau, a long -standing and consultant video game analyst. “He must be good in video games in order to be cool for all fans, all his technological events, all the people who are in his technological world, player and ai.”
Mr. Musk has pushed for a high profile in the world of games for years. According to the biography of the billionaire of Walter Isaacson, Mr. Musk requested a role in the Cyberpunk 2077, the much illusion of futuristic video game franchises that debuted in 2020 (his ex -girlfriend Claire Boucher, who performs music like Grimes and with whom he had Three children played a character in the game.)
It was streamed by playing Diablo 4, the meditobond and overwhelming series of the monsters that beat the sales records when it was released. And he faded the Elden Ring’s role -playing game, calling him “the most beautiful art” that he has ever seen in an X post.
But the hardcore players were skeptical. In 2022, Mr. Musk raised his eyebrows in the community of games when he published a photo of the “Build” of the character of his Elden Ring ring, which is the assorted types of equipment that players can use to customize their characters. Fans of the game called him a “garbage build”, made up of a series of meaningless choices made by someone who seemed to have no idea how to play.
Mr. Musk discussed his games in a November interview with Joe Rogan, the Podcaster of celebrities. Musk mentioned an unofficial ranking that showed him classified as one of the first 20 Diablo 4 players in the world.
Players questioned how possible. The amount of time needed to obtain some of the objects and skills that the character of the game of Mr. Musk had reached – up to 10 hours of gameplay per day, according to some estimates – did not seem to align with his travel program and events.
Mr. Musk responded to opponents in X posts – some of which subsequently canceled – and attacked some of the critics for his own game skills.
But a week ago, he admitted to Nicholas Hayes, a play -off YouTube personality, who had really increased his reports.
In the messages, Mr. Hayes shared a YouTube video, asked the billionaire if he was enhanced and Mr. Musk replied with a 100%emoji.
“It’s impossible to beat players in Asia if you don’t do it,” Musk said in the messages. He later republished the video to his Feed X. He did not respond to requests for comment.
In an interview with the New York Times, Hayes said he was not surprised by revelation. He played Diablo with Mr. Musk in the past, and recalled moments in which the billionaire implied that he had not gained himself the equipment of his character, or that another player had given him as a gift.
“I mean, it’s Elon Musk,” said Hayes. “If you play with him, you will probably give him a lot of things.”
However, Mr. Musk defended his aptitude for the game and said in the messages to Mr. Hayes that the enhancement is on the agenda among Diablo’s elite players. And two of the mothers of his children came to his defense.
“Only for my personal pride, I would like to say that the father of my children was the first American druid in Diablo to free Zir’s slaughter and ended that season as the best in the United States”, wrote Mrs. Boucher on X , referring to one of the difficult games of the game dungeon. “I observed these things with my eyes.”
Shivon Zilis, who worked with Mr. Musk in several of his companies and is known to be the mother of three of his children, published a video last week by Mr. Musk who plays Diablo. In the answers, he told a memory of when he hidden for 17 hours on Christmas day in 2023.
“He made pauses for family meals and Christmas gifts, but he was too excited for sleep, and that’s how he did time with the Kiddos and a 17 -hour AOZ push that day,” he wrote, referring to A challenge to Diablo. “It was a joy to see him have fun so much!”
The enhancement violates the terms and conditions of Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2. But the market for third -party updates is robust and players can choose between a series of websites to update their accounts, most of which are charged Thousands of dollars.
A spokesman for Blizzard, the publisher of Diablo, refused to comment. Grinding Gear Games, the publisher of Path of Exile, did not respond to a commentary request.
Some players of the devil path who learned that Musk is an avid player for decades were disappointed in discovering that he had paid to improve his account, including Dennis Fong, one of the first professional E-Sport players.
In an interview, Mr. Fong told to play video games on video games on the same servers as Stanford University as Mr. Musk in the 90s. (Mr. Musk was not a student.) “He was decent,” said Mr. Fong of Mr. Musk, who used the name of the Zip2 screen, the name of the company he had recently started. “It’s not one of the best in the world.”
When Mr. Musk boasted of his diablo gameplay on X and on Mr. Rogan’s podcast last year, Mr. Fong said he wanted to believe it was true, since Diablo is generally considered an easy game without a competitive scene. But looking at the path of the gameplay in exile, Signor Fong said, it was “obvious that he had no idea what he was going on”.
Mr. Breslau said Mr. Musk reminded him of a teenager. “In that way,” added Breslau, “is a real player.”