Elon Musk, King of Video Games? Well, maybe not.

On the face of it, the claim seems implausible: In addition to being the richest man in the world, the chief executive of several companies and a key adviser to President Trump, Elon Musk claims that he is also a world class video game player.

A statement that Mr. Musk for many years. He has an account on X, a social media platform, dedicated to posting highlights of his game. He has hung out with some of the world’s most competitive video game players on platforms like Twitch. He has even stamped his name on the global leaderboards in some games.

But last week, the gaming community he had long tried to impress turned against him. It started with the live broadcast of Mr. Musk played Path of Exile 2, a popular role-playing game known for its difficulty. Despite his account showing that he has achieved one of the highest levels in the game, the game has been the same for fans.

Internet pioneers have made YouTube videos and taken to reddit to dissect their gameplay, and point out rookie mistakes. Other players noted that Mr. Musk’s Path of Exile was active when he couldn’t play himself, like on Monday morning, when Mr. He is Trump. The account status of Mr. Musk announced that he entered the game and was in the “map”, which means that it is possible – although not certain – that someone was on the account playing while Mr. Musk sat behind Trump. .

“How are you there?” A streamer asked while watching the split screen of the game and Mr. Musk in the Capitol Rotunda, as Mr. Trump took the oath of office.

Thousands of players took X to accuse Mr. Musk would have “augmented” his account – that is, paying for updates to third-party websites, or hiring someone to play his account for him. This is the same game as stolen valor.

Rarely does the billionaire touch anything, whether he’s building rockets or killing digital Goatmen, without causing controversy. But for Mr. Musk, “hardcore gamer” is an important part of the identity he has tried to develop: a polymath nerd who is equal parts automogul, space pioneer and serial tech entrepreneur.

Although he has become one of the most powerful people in the Trump administration, he has gone to great lengths to show that he appreciates video game culture. And among the online and real male fans of Mr. Musk, great gaming skills are something to be admired.

“He wants people to really look at him,” said Rod Breslau, a longtime video game analyst and consultant. “He needs to be good at video games to make him cool with all the fans, all the technical events, all the people in the world of technology, players and AI.”

mr. Musk has been pushing for popularity in the gaming world for years. According to Walter Isaacson’s biography of the billionaire, Mr. Musk claimed a role in Cyberpunk 2077, the hugely popular futuristic video game franchise that debuted in 2020. three children, played characters in the game.)

He moved on playing Diablo 4, the monster-slaying series that broke sales records when it was released. And he steals the Elden Ring game, which he calls “the most beautiful piece of art” he’s ever seen in an article for X.

But hardcore gamers were skeptical. In 2022, Mr. Musk raised eyebrows in the gaming community when he released a picture of his Elden Ring character “building”, which is a variety of tools that players can use to customize their character. Fans of the game referred to it as “garbage”, consisting of a series of nonsensical hardware choices made by someone who didn’t seem to know how to play the game.

Mr. Musk discussed his game in a November interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan. mr. Musk cited an unofficial ranking that showed him as one of the top 20 Diablo 4 players in the world.

The players asked how it was possible. The amount of time it takes to get some of the items and skills available to Mr. Musk – up to 10 hours of games per day, according to some estimates – did not seem to fit his schedule and schedule.

Mr Musk fired back at naysayers in a post on X – some of which he later deleted – and attacked some of the critics for his playfulness.

But a week ago, she admitted to popular YouTuber Nicholas Hayes that she had indeed upgraded her account.

In the message shared by Mr. Hayes in a YouTube video, he asked the billionaire if he’s grown, and Mr. Hayes responded with a 100% emoji. Musk.

“It’s impossible to beat the Asian players if you don’t,” Mr. Musk said in a message. He later reposted the video on his own X feed. He did not respond to a request for comment.

In an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Hayes said he was not surprised by the announcement. He used to play Diablo with Mr. Musk, and recalled a time when the billionaire said he didn’t get his character’s gear, or that other players gave him as a gift.

“I mean Elon Musk,” Mr Hayes said. “If you play with him, you can give him a lot.”

However, Mr. Musk defended his ability to play, saying in a message to Mr. Hayes that promotion is common among top players in Diablo. And two of his children’s mothers came to protect him.

“For my own pride, I want to say that my son’s father was the first American druid in diablo to clear the zir abattoir and end that era as the best in the United States,” said Ms. Boucher wrote in X, pointing to one of the most difficult dungeon maps in the game. “I have watched it with my eyes.”

Shivon Zilis, who has worked with Mr. Musk in several of his companies and is known to be the mother of his three children, posted a video last week about Mr. Musk playing Diablo. In response, he recounted the memory of playing for 17 hours on Christmas Day in 2023.

“He took a break from the family dinner and Christmas presents but was too excited to sleep, which is how he spent time with the kiddos and 17 hours of AoZ push work that day,” he wrote, pointing to a challenge in Diablo. “I was glad to see him having so much fun!”

Boosting violates the terms and conditions of Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2. But the market for third-party upgrades is strong, and players can choose from several sites to upgrade their accounts, which cost $ mostly thousands.

A spokesman for Blizzard, the publisher of Diablo, declined to comment. Grinding Gear Games, the publisher of Path of Exile, did not respond to a request for comment.

Some of the Path of Exile players who knew Mr. Musk as an avid gamer for decades was disappointed to find that he paid money to improve his accounts, including Dennis Fong, one of the first professional e-sports players.

In an interview, Mr. Fong recounts playing the video game Quake on the same Stanford University servers as Mr. Musk in the 1990s. (Mr. Musk is not a student.) Musk, who used the screen name Zip2, the name of the company he recently started. “Not one of the best in the world.”

While boasting about playing Diablo on X and on Mr. Mr. Rogan last year. Musk, Mr. Fong said he wants to believe this is true, because Diablo is considered an easy game without a competitive platform. But watching the Path of Exile game, Mr. Fung said, “it’s obvious that he doesn’t know what’s going on.”

Mr. Breslau said that Mr. reminded him of a teenager. Musk. “In that way,” Mr. Breslau added, “he’s a real player.”