No, Elon Musk is not a God at Video Games
It should probably not need to be stated, but even the world’s richest man doesn’t have enough time to work AND partake in all of his favorite hobbies.
While he’s in the spotlight for Path of Exile 2 right now, Elon’s gaming ability first came into question when he posted a highly suspect Elden Ring build, which had the internet roaring with laughter and disbelief because, who on earth could possibly be THAT bad.
As time went on, he began talking about Diablo IV and posting clips of his Druid clearing some of the most difficult content in the game. For many, this was an incredible feat — the man was a father, the CEO of multiple companies, grew his involvement in politics, tweeted 100 times a day and still had time to be “one of the boys,” playing video games in his down time. For me, someone that has toiled in the trenches of “Diablo-like” ARPG endgames for the majority of their gaming life, it was incredibly improbable.
So many life lessons to be learned from speedrunning video games on max difficulty. Teaches you to see the matrix, rather than simply exist in the matrix.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2024
Diablo Tier 150 finished in under 2 mins.
(That's what she said😂) pic.twitter.com/KYvKm2vIy5
To stay at the top of the ladder and clear much of the hardest content on a seasonal reset, you need to spend as much as a full-time job to level your character and work on their build and gear. In Diablo IV, this is a slightly more believable task, since the game is far simpler than Path of Exile, but still improbable. My first-hand experience in Diablo 3 (as well as others’) was always that while you’re not playing, someone else is. Sleeping alone, could cost you upwards of 100 positions.
So, when Elon shared that not only was he going to learn how to play Path of Exile 2, notoriously one of the most complicated video games you could possibly learn, naturally I was suspect of how he would do. After all, learning the game alone would take him hundreds of hours since you can’t just copy and paste someone’s cookie-cutter build like you can in Diablo. You can certainly mirror someone’s talent selections, but because POE features a legitimate crafting and economy system in-game, obtaining the best gear is a serious time investment.
As an example, in Path of Exile 1 after thousands of hours of playtime, my friends and I would spend every waking moment in the entire launch weekend of a new season playing the game and accruing wealth — none of us came even close to the gear Elon acquired in a short time, as a complete newbie. Very sus, indeed.
He would go on to post several videos of him attempting to clear endgame content with an extremely strong build, but seemingly forgot how to play. It wasn’t small mistakes the average top player would make, either. Maybe it was stage fright. Or, more likely, he wasn’t the one that played it to this level.
Testing streaming on X via Starlink https://t.co/91ilYMadda
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 17, 2024
While he (probably) is the one playing his character in the livestreams and videos he posts, based on evidence that several long-time POE players picked up on, and some simple logic, it was clear he couldn’t have gotten to that level without a little bit of help. It’s uncertain whether or not he is “RMTing” (real money trading) to have enough currency to afford to trade for his gear or he is just having someone play for him. I’m inclined to believe the former based on his ability to quickly grasp complex systems and the time that would be required to get to his level and gear.
But, clearly softcore wasn’t challenging enough as he decided he would try to play the game on hardcore mode, where any death results in the permanent loss of your character (in that league). Inexplicably, despite showcasing he didn’t understand the basics of endgame bossing, he surpassed everyone’s expectations not only one, but twice, reaching level 90+, with his most recent character dying at level 97.
Unfortunately for Musk (but fortunately for us), he livestreamed even more of his endgame gameplay. For someone to reach level 90 in hardcore Path of Exile, you’d assume that their grip on the game’s in-depth knowledge requirement would be other-worldly since he hadn’t played the original Path of Exile. That was not the case. It was so painfully obvious to anyone that has played either iteration of the game, that Elon Musk had no idea what he was doing, and that it was overwhelmingly improbable that he himself leveled any of his characters because he was simply failing the basics.
🚩He has one of the best items in the game and says it could be better because the item’s level is lower than his character level.
🚩He has a full inventory cluttered with useless items and leaves valuable items on the ground
🚩He can’t navigate the endgame
🚩He runs out of mana and has no idea while his damage plummets
After allegedly playing this build for hundreds of hours, you’d think that he has this and more on lock, but alas. Quin69’s video covering this debacle summarizes the impossibilities very well, if you have 10 minutes to spare.
is @ElonMusk lying about being good at video games? pic.twitter.com/TDGb4vsgXf
— Quin (@quinrex) January 11, 2025
But what could be more perfect of an analogy for a billionaire business man than paying someone else to do all of the hard work while you claim all of the credit. At least whoever he’s paying is likely living their best life — if he gets too expensive, Elon, hit me up! I’d gladly take a paycheck to play video games for you.
