The gaming community is abuzz with controversy following revelations that Elon Musk, the world's richest man and owner of X/Twitter, has admitted to engaging in account boosting in popular action RPGs Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2. Screenshots of a private conversation between Musk and a YouTuber unveiled his confession of paying for boosts, a practice that directly violates the terms of service of most live service video games.
Account boosting, where one player logs into another's account to elevate their rank, is explicitly prohibited by Blizzard Entertainment's end-user license agreement for Diablo 4. Despite Musk's admission, both Blizzard and Path of Exile 2 developer Grinding Gear Games have declined to comment on whether they will ban Musk's accounts, leaving fans questioning the integrity of the games.
The controversy has sparked heated discussions among players. On the Path of Exile official forum, a player expressed disappointment, questioning whether the game's terms of service are being enforced equally. "So now billionaires can buy their way to the top of the HC ladder as a vanity project like owning a football club. Are the TOS not being enforced even when openly broken?" they asked. Another player on Battle.net echoed these sentiments, wondering if Musk's account should be banned for admitted boosting.
Musk has previously boasted about his gaming achievements, including claiming to be among the top 20 players globally in Diablo 4 during 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," especially on tough days.
However, skepticism about Musk's gaming prowess grew as players scrutinized his performance and game knowledge. Doubts intensified after an early January livestream where Musk struggled with endgame tasks in Path of Exile 2, leading some to believe he was not playing his account himself. The suspicions were confirmed when Musk admitted to account boosting in a direct message conversation shared by the Diablo player NikoWrex, stating it was necessary to compete with players in Asia.
In defense of Musk, musician Grimes, who shares three children with him, tweeted about witnessing his gaming achievements firsthand, including being the first American druid in Diablo to clear a significant challenge and ranking highly in other games.
Further allegations surfaced when Musk's Path of Exile 2 character was seen active in the game while he was attending Donald Trump's inauguration in Washington, adding fuel to the ongoing debate about fairness and integrity in competitive gaming.
