GAME OVER: Viral Clapback Exposes Elon Musk’s “Fake Gamer” Accusations
Elon Musk, the billionaire tech mogul and close ally of Donald Trump, is facing renewed scrutiny over his self-proclaimed gaming prowess, following a viral exchange with the official Assassin’s Creed video game account. This incident has reignited long-standing accusations from the gaming community that Musk is a “fake gamer” who potentially uses “boosting” to inflate his in-game achievements.
The latest dust-up began when Musk took to X to criticize an ad for Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, a new title in the popular franchise set in feudal Japan that features a Black male samurai and a female assassin — elements that have drawn ire from “anti-DEI” groups. Musk posted, “Objectively, he [leftist streamer Hasan Piker] is promoting a terrible game just for the money.”
The official Assassin’s Creed X account delivered a cutting retort that broke the internet: “Is that what the guy playing your Path of Exile 2 account told you?” This sharp response quickly amassed hundreds of thousands of likes and tens of millions of views, far outstripping Musk’s original post.
The effectiveness of the clapback lies in its direct hit on a pervasive suspicion among gamers: that Musk either pays skilled players to “level up” his accounts or buys in-game upgrades from third-party services—a practice known as “boosting.” This accusation gained traction after a “Path of Exile 2” livestream where Musk’s high-level account was active, but his live gameplay was widely derided as amateurish by viewers and online analysts. Some even pointed out his account’s activity coincided with his presence at a past presidential inauguration.
This isn’t the first time gamers have cast doubt on Musk’s claims. In 2022, his shared “Elden Ring” character “build” was mocked as nonsensical by seasoned players.1 More recently, in November, he bragged to Joe Rogan about an unofficial ranking placing him among the top 20 “Diablo IV” players, a feat many found implausible given his demanding schedule.
The “boosting” accusations seemingly came to a head in January when Musk appeared to admit to the practice in a direct message conversation with gaming YouTuber NikoWrex. According to a video shared by NikoWrex (and later by Musk himself), Musk responded to a question about boosting in Path of Exile 2 or Diablo IV with a “100 percent” emoji, adding that “it’s impossible to beat the players in Asia if you don’t, as they do!”
For a figure of Musk’s real-world influence, this preoccupation with digital dominance might seem odd. However, it aligns with a long-standing political tradition of boasting about prowess, albeit shifting from traditional sports to video games in Musk’s case. He aims to flex his strategic and mathematical mind to connect with his fanbase of tech-savvy young men. Yet, a growing segment of his potential gamer audience remains unconvinced.
The Assassin’s Creed counter-punch stands out as a rare public “clowning” of a high-profile figure aligned with the Trump administration. The game’s subsequent announcement of over 3 million players and record day-one sales for Ubisoft on PlayStation’s digital store suggests that, in this instance, resisting a “MAGA star” on social media paid off handsomely. As the series’ maxim goes, “Nothing is true; everything is permitted” — a sentiment that applies equally to Musk’s asserted gaming wins and the viral takedowns that follow.
