Summary:
- Elon Musk admitted to cheating in Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2, using paid boosters to inflate his leaderboard rankings despite publicly claiming elite gaming skills.
- Gamers uncovered inconsistencies, including impossible gameplay timestamps (e.g., leveling during Trump’s 2025 inauguration) and livestream errors exposing his lack of basic game knowledge.
- Musk defended his actions by claiming Asian players “force” boosting, sparking accusations of xenophobia and widespread ridicule from gaming communities on Reddit and X.
- The scandal amplified concerns about Musk’s credibility amid his growing political influence, including access to government data and roles in Trump’s re-elected administration.
Elon Musk faces intense backlash from gamers after confirming long-held suspicions that he cheated to achieve high rankings in popular video games Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2. The admission undermines years of public boasts about his gaming skills and exposes deeper concerns about his credibility amid growing political influence.
The controversy began when Musk claimed on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast that he ranked among the world’s top 20 Diablo IV players. Later, his account appeared prominently on Path of Exile 2’s permadeath leaderboard. Skeptical gamers soon identified inconsistencies, noting his character leveled up during events like Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, where Musk was physically present without gaming equipment. Others highlighted gameplay errors during livestreams, such as failing to grasp basic mechanics. “He seemingly struggles to understand why he cannot pick up an item when his inventory [is] full,” one Reddit user observed.
Community outrage intensified after Musk admitted to “boosting”—paying others to play on his accounts—during an interview with top Diablo player NikoWrex. He defended the practice by claiming, “It’s impossible to beat the players in Asia if you don’t, as they do!”—a remark widely criticized as xenophobic. Gamers condemned the dishonesty, with one X user declaring, “He’s committed the cardinal sin of being a fake gamer,” while programmer Dan Nelson called it “incredibly cringe, fragile ego on full display.”
The scandal highlights broader concerns about Musk’s expanding political clout. As a key ally of recently re-elected President Trump, Musk holds unprecedented access to government data, offices in the Eisenhower Executive Building, and influence over federal appointments. Critics argue the gaming deception reflects a pattern of questionable judgment from a figure wielding immense power over public policy and global markets.
While trivial compared to geopolitical issues, the episode underscores Musk’s fraught relationship with truthfulness—a trait gamers argue disqualifies him from the trust required of someone shaping national agendas. As one Reddit commenter summarized: “Elon lost the trust of all gamers overnight. Boosting your account and lying about it is the worst offense.”
Source: Futurism
