Billionaire troll and part-time gamer Elon Musk raised more than a few eyebrows earlier this month when he streamed playing a high-level Path of Exile 2 character but, to the considerable mirth of viewers, didn't seem to have an understanding of the basic game mechanics. Alas Musk's hardcore character, Percy_Verence, would soon enough kick the bucket at level 97.
So is he account boosting or what? And isn't this all a bit odd? Musk is the world's richest man, is involved in countless real-world ventures of consequence and controversy, and yet seems to be very invested in whether people think he's a legit hardcore gamer or not. So invested that he got in a massive argument with Asmongold over who the best gamer is. Asmongold, with the greatest of respect, is a man who cannot keep his own kitchen clean.
Well, the mystery is now solved. A new video released by Nikowrex shares DMs between the pair, with Musk's permission, in which everyone's favourite brain chip advocate admits to using account boosting services (thanks, Windows Central). Which he kind of had to, after the internet noticed his PoE2 account grinding while Musk was very much in attendance at Donald Trump's inauguration.
Nikowrex asks Musk if they've had someone else play their accounts and/or bought gear and resources in PoE2 and Diablo 4, to which Musk responds with a "100" emoji. "I'm also on multiple streams with Rob and Ace," says Musk, "But when I post a video of a game or am streaming. that's 100% me."
As regards account boosting, Musk says "It's impossible to beat the players in Asia if you don't, as they do!" OK. Asked whether he intended to take credit for having a high level hardcore character in PoE2 Musk says "No. Never claimed that. The top accounts in Diablo or PoE require multiple people playing the account to win a leveling race."
Musk is unrepentant about his boosting and doesn't think he owes anyone anything: "What would I be apologizing for?" But of course he's being a bit of a naughty boy: If he really didn't care about this stuff, he would've made it clear when he was streaming with these characters, rather than being dragged into the admission by his undeniable lack of knowledge about the game and internet sleuths putting two-and-two together.
Pretty notable that Musk didn't mention it when boasting about his Diablo 4 skills on Joe Rogan, anyway. On that occasion his pride at being in the top 20 Diablo 4 players worldwide was clear to see. Was it all bunk, Elon?
Oh and it's against the terms of service for both games to account share. So as Musk has nothing to apologise about and never claimed otherwise, I've asked both Blizzard and GGG what they make of all this.
