Elon Musk loves to project strength. He flexes loudlyhyping Tesla and xAI, bashing the federal government, even parenting like a drill sergeant. Lately, hes been trying to flex in gaming.
On Joe Rogans podcast last year, Musk claimed he was one of the worlds best Diablo IV playersand the leaderboards seemed to back him up. That is, until he streamed Path of Exile 2. Viewers quickly noticed he had a high rank but played like a rookie. Musk later admitted to boosting his account. Still, hes kept streamingmostly becoming a punchline among serious gamers. Just last week, he rage-quit a stream after repeatedly dying and getting clowned by commenters.
Musk wants badly to be seen as a pro gamer. The problem? Hes just not very good.
Elon Musks gaming persona
Scroll through Elon Musks X feed and youll find it all: offensive memes, government rants, attacks on business criticsand increasingly, gaming content. Musk has been streaming on X since 2023, sometimes from his personal account but more often from his alt, @cyb3rgam3r420. He streams from everywhereincluding a recent 44-minute session on his private jet, spent mostly in silence.
Musk loves to hype himself. The clips he posts from his streams focus on big winsfaster clear times, new buildsor his new Path of Exile name, Kekius Maximus, which he claimed was destined for greatness. On The Joe Rogan Experience the day before the 2024 election, Musk went on a tangent to brag about his Diablo IV skills, claiming he ranked in the global top 20a list that, at the time, included only two Americans. Shockingly, Musk was right.
So, why does he play like such an amateur?
Musks streams often reveal a shaky grasp of Path of Exiles mechanics. Viewers have called out his gaming setup as another giveaway of his inexperience. Internet sleuths quickly analyzed his gameplay and noticed signs that his account had been active when he couldnt possibly have been playinglike during Trumps inauguration. Eventually, YouTuber NikoWrex DMed Musk directly, asking if he had boosted his account. Musk replied with the 100% emoji. Its impossible to beat the players in Asia if you dont, he wrote. Musk later reposted the exchange.
Even after admitting to boosting, Musk keeps streaming. His skills remain mediocre, but he continues to hype these sessions as if he were an esports pro. His daughter, Vivian Wilson, recently described his gaming as dogst awful, like god-awful. Just last week, Musks Path of Exile 2 stream was overrun with hate comments and trolls after he repeatedly diedincluding to the tutorial boss. The stream eventually went dark (Musk blamed his WiFi) and was scrubbed from X.
Elon Musk’s volatility complex
Elon Musk has a long history of erratic online behavior. When he helped dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureauwhich had saved consumers an estimated $19.7 billionhe mocked the move with a post: CFPB RIP. When Donald Trump spread the racist lie that Haitian immigrants were eating pets, Musk replied with AI-generated images of a kitten and duck, writing, save them! During Hurricane Helene, as the South faced devastation, Musk circulated misinformation from the FAA and FEMA via screenshots of text messages, then publicly clashed with Pete Buttigieg. The list goes on.
Clearly, his behavior around gaming isnt exactly out of character. He wants to be seen as a pro, aligning himself with the bro demographic that helped elect Trump. Too bad hes just not good at it.
