Elon Musk, the world's richest man and owner of X/Twitter, has sparked controversy in the gaming community after reportedly admitting to cheating in two popular action RPGs, Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2. Screenshots of a private conversation between Musk and a YouTuber revealed his admission of paying for account boosting, a practice that violates the terms of service for most live service video games. Blizzard Entertainment and Grinding Gear Games, the developers behind these games, have faced questions about whether they will take action and ban Musk's accounts for cheating.
Account boosting, or power-leveling, is a form of cheating where a player pays another to log into their account and raise their rank to a higher tier. This practice is explicitly prohibited by Blizzard's end user license agreement, which warns against such activities in exchange for payment.
Following Musk's admission, players have expressed their disappointment and concern over the integrity of the games. On the Path of Exile forum, a player questioned whether the game's terms of service (ToS) are being enforced, especially when broken so openly by a high-profile figure like Musk. Another player on Battle.net echoed these sentiments, questioning whether Musk's account should be banned for admitting to boosting.
When contacted by IGN, both Grinding Gear Games and Blizzard declined to comment on the situation, with Blizzard stating that it does not discuss individual player account behaviors or enforcements.
Musk has previously boasted about his gaming skills, claiming to be among the top 20 players in Diablo 4 in an interview with Joe Rogan. He also mentioned having a hardcore level 97 character in Path of Exile 2, though it has since perished. Musk has cited gaming as a way to "quiet my mind" and find solace on tough days.
However, his gaming prowess came under scrutiny as players questioned how he could achieve such high levels given his demanding roles at Tesla, SpaceX, X/Twitter, and as Donald Trump's efficiency tsar. An early January livestream of Musk playing Path of Exile 2 drew criticism for his apparent lack of understanding of the game's mechanics. Suspicions of account boosting were confirmed when Musk admitted to the practice in a conversation with the Diablo player NikoWrex, stating it was necessary to compete with players in Asia.
Musk emphasized that when he posts videos or streams games, it is genuinely him playing, though he does not claim credit for the high levels achieved through boosting. He also questioned the need to apologize for his actions.
In defense of Musk, musician Grimes, who shares three children with him, tweeted about his gaming achievements, asserting that she had witnessed his accomplishments firsthand and that there were other witnesses to verify his skills.
Further allegations of cheating surfaced when Musk's Path of Exile 2 character was seen active in the game while he was attending Trump's inauguration in Washington.
