They say money canāt buy you happiness, but it can buy you endgame characters in Diablo IV, Path of Exile 2, and other games. Itās known as account boosting and is technically considered cheating in most games, and itās something Elon Musk has finally admitted to after being called out by various YouTubers, including Zach āAsmongoldā Hoyt.
That revelation came in DMs he seemingly exchanged with YouTuber NikoWrex and which were subsequently shared in a video published on January 18 titled āAddressing All the Elon Musk Drama in PoE2 with Elon Musk!ā (via Forbes). In it, NikoWrex shared screenshots of DMs exchanged with Musk which the tech billionaire apparently said were okay to publish. During the conversation, the Tesla CEO admitted to using account boosting to compete in Path of Exile 2 and Diablo IVās end game, but said there was nothing to apologize for because everyone is doing it.
Addressing All the Elon Musk Drama in PoE2 with Elon Musk! pic.twitter.com/PSG7KFs7ej
ā NikoWrex (@NikoWrex) January 19, 2025
āHave you level boosted (had someone else play your accounts) and/or purchased gear/resources for PoE2 and Diablo 4?ā asked NikoWrex. Musk responded with a ā100 percentā emoji before adding that āItās impossible to beat the players in Asia if you dont, as they do!ā The richest man in the world noted that heās appeared on multiple streams where itās really him playing the games, but defended using account sharing to boost his characters despite never being transparent with people that this is what he was doing.
Account boosting is common in online multiplayer games, but also frowned upon by many, including game makers themselves who explicitly ban such activities in their terms of service. While it can be hard to prove that a player paid someone else to level up their character, or grind for powerful and hard-to-get gear, account sharing for any reason is technically banned in both Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2.
āRegarding PoE2, was it your intention to take full credit for leveling your HC characters?ā asked NikoWrex in one screenshot. āNo,ā responded Musk. āNever claimed that. The top accounts in Diablo or PoE require multiple people playing the account to win a leveling race.ā Asked if he would apologize to the Path of Exile 2 community for misleading them he replied, āWhat would I be apologizing for?ā
Just for my personal pride, I would like to state that the father of my children was the first american druid in diablo to clear abattoir of zir and ended that season as best in the USA. He was also ranking in Polytopia, and beat Felix himself at the game. I did observe theseā¦
ā š¦šššš¾š ā³ (@Grimezsz) January 18, 2025
The downplayed confession comes in the context of Musk promoting himself as a hardcore gamer for years, from sharing clips of playing Elden Ring (which were mocked for bad builds) to community leaderboard placements for certain Diablo IV dungeons runs. He even spoke at length in a recent Joe Rogan podcast episode about his lifelong love of gaming and its virtues for testing and focusing the mind. Of course, that appearance also included a lowkey claim that Musk was quietly one of the best Quake players around back in the day (a genuine all-star of the classic PC shooter claimed that Musk, āwasnāt very goodā but āstill an OG).ā
Musk might have continued his apparent charade of promoting himself as a top-tier, obsessive gamer, able to play for dozens of hours a week between high-profile meetings with newly inaugurated President Trump and running three major tech companiesāincluding one that launches expensive rockets into space that occasionally blow-upāif not for a particularly bad streaming performance earlier this month. YouTubers, including Zach āAsmongoldā Hoyt, immediately called Musk out as phony.
Even his ex, musician Grimes, came to his defense over the weekend, though it didnāt seem to help. His ability to quiet his gaming critics has so far proven much less successful than his ability to influence U.S. national politics.
