Elon Musk feuds with Asmongold after humiliating gaming performance

Streamer Asmongold and Elon Musk entered into a spat on X after the far-right billionaire embarrassed himself playing Path of Exile 2.  © Collage: Screenshot/Youtube/Asmongold TV & REUTERS

The uproar left the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX battling the humiliating accusation that he was faking it as a skilled gamer.

It erupted after Musk streamed himself last week playing Path of Exile 2, boasting of having one of the highest-ranked characters and inviting scrutiny from seasoned gamers.

Many noted that Musk made rookie mistakes and was unfamiliar with basic game mechanics that he should have been familiar with, given the advanced level of his avatar in the game.

Suspicions swirled that the world's richest man had hired help, inviting brutal comments that demolished his elite gamer persona.

"This sounds like a middle-schooler giving a book report on a book they've never read," said one comment under a YouTube video of Musk's gameplay.

Twitch streamer Asmongold took the criticism a step further, challenging Musk to prove that he had reached that level himself.

The rebuke did not go down well.

The billionaire unfollowed Asmongold on X briefly took away his blue checkmark, before leaking DMs suggesting that the ultra-popular influencer was not acting on his own behalf.

"Asmon behaves like a maverick 'independent,'" Musk wrote in a post. "But in reality has to ask his boss for permission before he can do anything. He is not his own man."

The post was promptly hit with a Community Note which noted that Asmongold does not have "bosses."

Musk has frequently claimed to be a top-class gamer and boasted about his achievements.  © REUTERS

The public spat led to an avalanche of comments that labelled Musk a "man-child" and lampooned his "fragile ego," while many previous fans added that the billionaire had lost their trust.

Path of Exile 2 is considered a challenging game that expert players say requires a serious time commitment to reach the advanced level of Musk's character – something he likely lacks.

The tycoon has frequently shared his gaming experiences on social media, claiming to be one of the top players in various online games.

He has said the activity forces him to "concentrate" and "killing the demons in a video game calms the demons" in his mind.

The whole episode has led users to question Musk's other purported accomplishments, such as his claim that he was among the top 20 players of role-playing video game Diablo IV.

"As a gamer, you have a lot of pride in your rank/level. Trying to fake that while also being the richest guy in the world is just so absurdly unnecessary," wrote one user on X.