Both Blizzard Entertainment and Grinding Gear Games have remained tight-lipped about potential account bans for Elon Musk following his reported admission of cheating in their action RPGs, Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2. Screenshots of a private conversation between Musk and a YouTuber revealed his confession of paying for account boosting, a practice that violates most live service games' terms of service. Blizzard specifically prohibits account boosting or power-leveling for payment in its end user license agreement.
Following Musk's admission, players have expressed frustration and disappointment on forums like Battle.net and Path of Exile's official site. Some questioned the enforcement of terms of service, with one Path of Exile player stating, "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?" Another player echoed these sentiments, asking, "Is boosting against the rules? If it is, then shouldn’t Elon Musk’s account get banned since he flat out admitted that he boosts his account? I assume he doesn’t get to break the rules just because…"
When approached for comment, both Grinding Gear Games and Blizzard declined, with Blizzard stating they do not discuss individual player account behaviors or enforcement actions.
Musk, who has bragged about his gaming skills in interviews, including a claim of being in the top 20 players in Diablo 4 on Joe Rogan's podcast, recently had a hardcore level 97 Path of Exile 2 character that has since perished. He has described gaming as a way to "quiet my mind" and a "strange solace" on tough days.
However, skepticism about Musk's gaming achievements grew as players scrutinized his performance and game knowledge. Doubts intensified after a January livestream where Musk's handling of Path of Exile 2's endgame mechanics drew criticism for a perceived lack of understanding. Speculation that Musk might be using paid boosting services was confirmed when a video from Diablo player NikoWrex surfaced, showing Musk admitting to account boosting to compete with Asian players. Musk justified his actions by saying, "It’s impossible to beat the players in Asia if you don’t, as they do!" He clarified that he does not take credit for high-level achievements in his streams, stating, "The top accounts in Diablo or PoE require multiple people playing the account to win a leveling race."
In defense of Musk, musician Grimes, who shares three children with him, tweeted about witnessing Musk's gaming achievements firsthand, including being the first American druid in Diablo to clear a specific challenge and ranking highly in other games.
Further allegations arose when Musk's Path of Exile 2 character was active during his attendance at Donald Trump's inauguration, fueling more controversy around his gaming practices.
