X/Twitter proprietor Elon Musk lit up social media feeds at present when he launched a wave of posts publicly criticizing Twitch streamer and content material creator Zack Hoyt (a.okay.a. Asmongold) following controversy relating to the tech billionaire’s high-level gameplay of Grinding Gear Video games’ Path of Exile 2.
Musk first shared his ideas in a reply to a post from YouTuber Screamheart, who revealed a two-minute clip from a brand new video that dives into the allegations surrounding the X proprietor’s Path of Exile 2 gameplay. The full video totals eight minutes and contains roughly 20 seconds of footage from Asmongold’s livestreams the place he alleges that Musk is just not completely answerable for the progress made on his stage 97 Path of Exile 2 character.
“There isn’t any means he performed that account. Like, I’m sorry,” Asmongold says within the clip. “I believe he purchased the account, or any person performed it for him. 100-f***ing-percent.”
Asmon behaves like a maverick “unbiased”, however in actuality has to ask his boss for permission earlier than he can do something. He’s not his personal man.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
Musk’s response features a collection of replies the place he calls the streamer “not his personal man.” The billionaire additionally took the chance to put up what Asmongold is calling a picture of “leaked” direct messages shared via X the place the 2 beforehand spoke about how the streamer manages his YouTube account. It was a second that has led to a messy back-and-forth between the 2 social media giants, and it’s preceded by in-depth investigation into Musk’s involvement within the gaming area.
Musk has lengthy been championed as a gaming fanatic. For years, he’s talked about his appreciation for Blizzard Leisure’s work on titles like Overwatch, and simply yesterday, he said he nonetheless performs video games “as my one leisure exercise to quiet my thoughts.”
Nevertheless, Musk’s self-proclaimed gaming prowess has been introduced into query in latest months as gamers started to take a better take a look at his efficiency and information of the video games he performs.
One title that has seemingly taken up a whole bunch of hours of Musk’s time is 2023’s Diablo 4, although as he’s climbed leaderboards and chatted with builders on X, many have commented on how a lot time he could be dedicating to Blizzard’s dungeon-crawling expertise. In November of final 12 months, the billionaire boasted about his place as one of the highest 20 Diablo 4 gamers on the earth, and he reached the number one spot a few weeks later. Whereas others spend a whole bunch if not 1000’s of hours merely chipping away on the endless faucet of content material obtainable, Musk has maintained his gaming status whereas juggling his obligations as a figurehead of corporations like X, SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and extra.
Leaking my DM’s is one factor however that is completely uncalled for https://t.co/I4eRo2QPKF
— Zack (@Asmongold) January 16, 2025
Dialogue about Musk’s skills as a gamer reached a brand new stage after a latest, early January livestream that noticed Musk tackling endgame duties in Path of Exile 2 drew criticism from followers. Movies like these from content material creators similar to Quin69TV, penguinz0, and Asmongold have garnered tens of millions of views as motion RPG veterans analyze footage and commentary posted by the tech big. One particular level of competition revolves round his (now deceased) stage 97 Hardcore character, Percy_Verence.
“Two weeks into the league, when persons are enjoying the sport, actually, they’re staying up 40 to 50 hours with out sleeping, solely enjoying Path of Exile – and they’re essentially the most try-hard guys on the earth – the highest-ranked participant within the Hardcore commerce league was stage 93,” Quin69TV explains in his video ‘Elon Musk is Mendacity About Being Good at Video Video games.’
“You’re considering to your self, ‘That’s type of near 97.’ Each time you stage up, it turns into exponentially tougher to realize expertise. Lots tougher. So, these gamers, to get to stage 97, needed to be enjoying the sport every single day for almost all of their day.”
Musk’s stream includes a quantity of moments that gamers are pointing to as indicators he is probably not fairly as aware of Path of Exile 2’s endgame mechanics as one would possibly count on him to be after spending a lot time in its world.
Seemingly struggling to entry Maps, unusual tab names, illogical stock administration, forsaking uncommon loot, and a disregard for notoriously highly effective weapons is just a few of the proof from Musk’s stream that gamers are utilizing to accuse the billionaire of not enjoying practically as a lot as he says he’s.
Many are working with the speculation that Musk could be paying others to spice up his Path of Exile account for him, although there isn’t any affirmation of this. The “why?” within the system stays a thriller, too, however the concept is that sustaining his standing as a gaming skilled is one thing Musk is inquisitive about, regardless of whether or not he’s really the one enjoying the video games.
Asmongold, whose YouTube channel options quite a few different movies discussing content material and updates for Path of Exile 2, took the time to deal with the subject along with his personal video referred to as ‘Elon Musk is just not getting away with this…’ Within the footage, he largely agrees with Quin69TV’s evaluation of the state of affairs, believing that Musk is probably not as truthful about his expertise as he’s letting on.
“I believed it was actually cool that Elon Musk was, like, a critical participant of Diablo, and every thing. I did,” Asmongold says. “I believed it was superior, and I guess he in all probability did play PoE 2 on day one. I do. I guess he in all probability performed it, and then he stopped.”
I’m on a whole bunch of streams on YouTube/Twitch enjoying dwell with the world’s greatest gamers.
No different technique to say this, however, whereas Asmon IS good at caustic commentary and making enjoyable of folks, he’s NOT good at video video games 🤷♂️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025
Within the fallout of Musk’s posts to Asmongold, X’s personal Group Notes function has chimed in to make clear a couple of factors. Concerning the tech billionaire’s feedback suggesting that Asmongold should ask his bosses for permission, Group Notes clarifies that the staff talked about within the leaked screenshots are the streamer’s editor, not his bosses. The user-driven function additionally addressed Musk’s remark that Asmongold is “NOT good at video video games” by itemizing his achievements in World of Warcraft.
“Was he in all probability not glad in regards to the PoE video? He’ll recover from it,” Asmongold added in a recent livestream. “Pay attention – it was so apparent. You can not get mad at me for bringing this up. All people was speaking about this. Come on, man.”
Elon has circuitously addressed the widespread criticisms relating to his Path of Exile 2 gameplay on the time of this story’s publication.
Michael Cripe is a contract contributor with IGN. He began writing within the trade in 2017 and is greatest identified for his work at shops similar to The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure you give him a observe on Twitter @MikeCripe.