Elon Musk’s self-proclaimed image as a top-class gamer took a hit on Friday, when video game enthusiasts mercilessly mocked the tech billionaire after a disastrous performance in a livestream.
The uproar — which was full of laughs and jokes — left the Tesla and SpaceX CEO grappling with the outrageous accusation that he was showing off as a skilled gamer.
It flared up when Musk last week streamed himself playing “Path of Exile 2”, claiming to be one of the highest-ranked characters and inviting scrutiny from experienced gamers.
Many said that Musk made rookie mistakes and was unfamiliar with basic game mechanics, which he should have been familiar with given the advanced level of his avatar in the game.
Suspicion spread that the world’s richest man had hired help, inviting cruel comments that demolished his typical gamer persona.
“It feels like a middle-schooler reporting on a book they’ve never read,” said a comment under a YouTube video of Musk’s gameplay.
A popular Twitch streamer named AsmaGold took the criticism a step further and challenged Musk to prove that he himself has reached that level.
Didn’t like the scolding.
The billionaire unfollowed AsmaGold on X and soon the streamer lost his blue checkmark. The platform, formerly known as Twitter, was bought by Musk for $44 billion in 2022.
The controversy did not end here. Musk shared private direct messages he exchanged with Asmongold, indicating that the streamer’s opinions were not his own.
“Esmon behaves like a temperamental ‘independent’ person,” Musk wrote in a post.
“But he actually has to ask permission from his boss before doing anything. He’s not his own man.”
Infuriating people online, Musk’s post was attached with a community note – a crowd-sourced tool to debunk false information – which wrote that AssamGold does not have “owners.”
The public feud led to a flood of comments, labeling Musk a “man-child” and criticizing his “fragile ego”, while many previous fans said the billionaire had lost his trust.
– ‘Killing demons’ –
The controversy undermines Musk’s carefully crafted persona as a superhuman man with extraordinary time management skills: running multiple corporations, posting breathlessly on Despite being a father.
The billionaire is also an advisor to the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump and has been chosen to run the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is tasked with reducing government spending.
“Path of Exile 2” is considered a challenging game, which expert players say requires a serious time commitment to reach advanced levels of Musk’s character – something he may lack. .
The tycoon has often shared his gaming experiences on social media, and claims to be one of the top players in various online games.
He has said that the activity forces him to “focus” and that “killing monsters in video games calms the demons in his mind”.
The outcry has led users to question Musk’s other purported accomplishments, such as his claim that he was one of the top 20 players of the role-playing video game “Diablo IV.”
A user on
“I will say that it also makes me wonder, if he’s willing to lie about this, what else is he willing to lie about.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
