“In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. In the kingdom of gaming, the billionaire with hired gamers is apparently top 20 globally.” – A confused Diablo IV player who actually earned their rank.
In what could only be described as the least surprising tech revelation since we discovered Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t actually blink, Elon Musk—CEO of approximately 17 companies, White House advisor, father of a small village of children, and apparently one of the world’s top Diablo IV players—has admitted what gamers have suspected for months: he pays other people to play video games for him while he takes full credit for their achievements.
The revelation came after months of increasingly improbable claims about his gaming prowess, culminating in Musk posting videos of himself clearing high-level Diablo IV dungeons in record time, despite demonstrating all the gaming aptitude of a sea cucumber when actually livestreaming himself playing Path of Exile 2.
The Time-Space Continuum Problem
The controversy began when Musk claimed to be ranked 19th globally in Diablo IV—an achievement that would require dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of grinding—while simultaneously running Tesla, SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), Neuralink, The Boring Company, xAI, and serving as a senior White House advisor for the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).1
Gaming community statistician Dr. Kayla Rodriguez from the Institute of Digital Leisure Studies explains: “We’ve calculated that to reach Musk’s claimed Diablo IV rank legitimately would require approximately 400 hours of gameplay. Given Musk’s schedule, he would need 47-hour days for three consecutive months, which violates several laws of physics.”
When confronted about this temporal impossibility, Musk initially insisted that he simply didn’t need sleep, with one of his children’s mothers, Grimes, rushing to his defense by claiming she witnessed him playing for 17 hours straight on Christmas Day 2023.2
However, the façade began to crumble when gamers noticed Musk’s character was logged into Path of Exile 2 during Trump’s inauguration ceremony, where Musk was physically present sitting next to Barron Trump.3
The “100%” Confession
After months of denials and digital posturing, Musk finally admitted to YouTuber NikoWrex that he had, indeed, paid others to boost his accounts in both Diablo IV and Path of Exile 2, responding with a “100%” emoji when asked directly.4
“It’s impossible to beat the players in Asia if you don’t,” Musk explained, revealing gaming’s worst-kept secret with all the nonchalance of someone admitting they occasionally jaywalk.
The admission sent shockwaves through the gaming community, with professional e-sports organizations reporting a 600% increase in applications from gamers hoping to become part of what’s now being called “Musk’s Midnight Army” – the shadowy collective of skilled players allegedly paid $400 an hour to advance Musk’s gaming characters while he sleeps, attends White House meetings, or tweets about whatever crossed his mind at 3 AM.
BillionaireBoost™: The App That Plays While You Profit
Rather than express remorse, Musk has apparently doubled down by announcing a new subscription service called BillionaireBoost™, described as “the world’s first executive gaming proxy service.”
“For just $29,999 per month, high-net-worth individuals can outsource their gaming to professional players while maintaining the illusion they’re skilled gamers,” explains the slick promotional material. “Our proprietary ‘Digital Double’ technology even uses AI to mimic your speech patterns and mannerisms during streams, ensuring no one suspects you’re actually in a board meeting when ‘you’ are setting world records.”
According to inside sources, the service already has a waitlist of 340 Fortune 500 CEOs and at least two Supreme Court justices, all desperate to project an image of gaming mastery without the pesky requirement of developing actual skills.
The company’s pitch deck, leaked to TechOnion by a disillusioned developer, includes testimonials from anonymous executives:
“Before BillionaireBoost, my 12-year-old nephew would destroy me in Fortnite. Now I’m apparently in the top 1% globally, and he finally respects me.” – CEO of [redacted] Bank
“I closed a $2.3 billion deal while ‘my’ character was setting a world record in Call of Duty. My teenage sons think I’m a god.” – Chairman of [redacted] Pharmaceuticals
The Five-Minute Gaming Slot
Industry analysts have connected Musk’s gaming controversy to his famous time management system, which divides his day into five-minute slots.5
“Our investigation reveals Musk has allocated exactly one five-minute slot per day to actual gaming, with the remaining 23 hours and 55 minutes outsourced to his gaming proxies,” explains tech journalist Morgan Chen. “This single five-minute daily session is just enough for him to learn the basic controls before a livestream, though evidently not enough to master them.”
Meanwhile, Musk’s personal gaming setup has expanded beyond his homes to include a large television installed in his government office at the Department of Government Efficiency, specifically for playing video games.6
“Nothing says ‘government efficiency’ quite like a $15,000 gaming rig purchased with taxpayer funds,” noted government watchdog Eleanor Simmons. “Though I suppose if you’re paying others to play for you, the equipment might as well be top-of-the-line.”
Gaming’s Unspoken Caste System
The scandal has exposed what many call “gaming’s uncomfortable class divide,” with different rules apparently applying to billionaires than to regular players.
Both Blizzard (maker of Diablo IV) and Grinding Gear Games (developer of Path of Exile 2) have declined to comment on whether they’ll enforce their terms of service, which explicitly prohibit account boosting.
“If I paid someone to boost my account, I’d be banned within hours,” says professional gamer Alexis Foster. “But when you’re worth $200 billion, the rules become more like gentle suggestions. It’s basically gaming’s version of tax laws.”
The controversy has spawned a new term in gaming communities: “Musking” – defined as “claiming extraordinary skill in an activity that was actually performed by someone you paid.”
According to a survey by the Digital Entertainment Authority, “Musking” has spread beyond gaming, with 42% of LinkedIn influencers now suspected of paying others to write their “thought leadership” posts, 37% of Instagram fitness models hiring body doubles for difficult poses, and 84% of TikTok cooking influencers secretly employing professional chefs off-camera.
The AI Game Studio Plot Thickens
Adding another layer to the controversy, Musk recently announced plans to launch an AI-powered gaming studio through his company xAI, ostensibly to “make games great again” and challenge what he calls ideologically driven content in the industry.
Industry insiders now speculate the studio’s first project will be “ProxyPlayer 2025,” a game where players can experience what it’s like to be paid to play video games for rich people.
“It’s brilliant when you think about it,” says gaming industry analyst Priya Sharma. “He’s creating a game about the very system he exploits. It’s like a snake eating its own tail, if the snake also owned the company that bred it and the restaurant serving it as an entrée.”
The Unexpected Plot Twist
In a development that has left the tech world reeling, a whistleblower from within Musk’s organization has come forward with a truly shocking claim: Elon Musk himself might not be real.
“I’ve worked closely with Mr. Musk for three years,” claims the source, who requested anonymity due to fear of having their blue checkmark revoked. “And I’ve compiled compelling evidence that ‘Elon Musk’ is actually a carefully crafted persona maintained by a rotating cast of actors and AI systems.”
The evidence includes:
- The impossibility of Musk’s schedule, which would require approximately 47 hours of activity per 24-hour day
- His rapidly changing accent depending on the audience
- The fact that he appears to be in multiple locations simultaneously
- The inconsistent gaming skill level between streams
- His ability to operate as CEO of six companies while also advising the White House
“The real Elon Musk hasn’t been seen since 2008,” the whistleblower alleges. “What we’re seeing is ‘Musk-as-a-Service’ – a distributed performance art piece funded by venture capital firms to maintain market confidence.”
While this claim remains unverified, it would explain how someone could simultaneously run multiple companies, father numerous children, advise the White House, maintain an active social media presence, and still find time to become one of the world’s top Diablo IV players – by simply not being a single human bound by the limitations of time and space.
The Final Level Boss: Authenticity
As Musk prepares to launch his AI gaming studio while continuing to serve as a government advisor with a gaming setup in his federal office, the controversy raises deeper questions about authenticity in the digital age.
“When the world’s richest man can’t even be bothered to legitimately earn his gaming achievements, what does that say about how he views his other accomplishments?” asks digital ethicist Dr. Jamal Washington. “If you can pay others to game for you, what else might you be outsourcing while taking full credit?”
For now, Musk continues to insist he’s legitimately skilled at video games, despite evidence to the contrary – though he’s admitted that yes, sometimes he does get a little help from friends.
Meanwhile, gaming tournaments worldwide have instituted a new rule requiring participants to provide DNA samples before competing, with one organizer explaining: “We need to verify you’re not a billionaire in disguise. Or being paid by one.”
Editor’s Note: Shortly after publishing this article, our office received a delivery of 200 Teslas with a note reading “Would a bad gamer send you these?” We’ve returned the vehicles and would like to clarify that our investigative integrity cannot be compromised, though we are open to discussing our stance should SpaceX tickets become available.
Support Quality Tech Journalism or Watch as We Pivot to Becoming Yet Another AI Newsletter
Congratulations! You’ve reached the end of this article without paying a dime! Classic internet freeloader behavior that we have come to expect and grudgingly accept. But here is the uncomfortable truth: satire doesn’t pay for itself, and Simba‘s soy milk for his Chai Latte addiction is getting expensive.
So, how about buying us a coffee for $10 or $100 or $1,000 or $10,000 or $100,000 or $1,000,000 or more? (Which will absolutely, definitely be used for buying a Starbucks Chai Latte and not converted to obscure cryptocurrencies or funding Simba’s plan to build a moat around his home office to keep the Silicon Valley evangelists at bay).
Your generous donation will help fund:
- Our ongoing investigation into whether Mark Zuckerberg is actually an alien hiding in a human body
- Premium therapy sessions for both our writer and their AI assistant who had to pretend to understand blockchain for six straight articles
- Legal defense fund for the inevitable lawsuits from tech billionaires with paper-thin skin and tech startups that can’t raise another round of money or pursue their IPO!
- Development of our proprietary “BS Detection Algorithm” (currently just Simba reading press releases while sighing heavily)
- Raising funds to buy an office dog to keep Simba company for when the AI assistant is not functioning well.
If your wallet is as empty as most tech promises, we understand. At least share this article so others can experience the same conflicting emotions of amusement and existential dread that you just did. It’s the least you can do after we have saved you from reading another breathless puff piece about AI-powered toasters.
Why Donate When You Could Just Share? (But Seriously, Donate!)
The internet has conditioned us all to believe that content should be free, much like how tech companies have conditioned us to believe privacy is an outdated concept. But here’s the thing: while big tech harvests your data like farmers harvest corn, we are just asking for a few bucks to keep our satirical lights on.
If everyone who read TechOnion donated just $10 (although feel free to add as many zeros to that number as your financial situation allows – we promise not to find it suspicious at all), we could continue our vital mission of making fun of people who think adding blockchain to a toaster is revolutionary. Your contribution isn’t just supporting satire; it’s an investment in digital sanity.
What your money definitely won’t be used for:
- Creating our own pointless cryptocurrency called “OnionCoin”
- Buying Twitter blue checks for our numerous fake executive accounts
- Developing an actual tech product (we leave that to the professionals who fail upward)
- A company retreat in the metaverse (we have standards!)
So what’ll it be? Support independent tech satire or continue your freeloader ways? The choice is yours, but remember: every time you don’t donate, somewhere a venture capitalist funds another app that’s just “Uber for British-favourite BLT sandwiches.”
Where Your Donation Actually Goes
When you support TechOnion, you are not just buying Simba more soy milk (though that is a critical expense). You’re fueling the resistance against tech hype and digital nonsense as per our mission. Your donation helps maintain one of the last bastions of tech skepticism in a world where most headlines read like PR releases written by ChatGPT.
Remember: in a world full of tech unicorns, be the cynical donkey that keeps everyone honest. Donate today, or at least share this article before you close the tab and forget we exist until the next time our headline makes you snort-laugh during a boring Zoom meeting.
References
- https://gamerant.com/blizzard-grinding-gear-games-comment-elon-musk-diablo-path-of-exile/ ↩︎
- https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/technology/elon-musk-video-games-diablo-path-of-exile.html ↩︎
- https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/elon-musk-wanted-gamers-respect-instead-he-got-a-scandal/ ↩︎
- https://kotaku.com/elon-musk-poe2-diablo-4-paid-boosting-fake-controversy-1851743670 ↩︎
- https://routines.club/routine/elon-musk-daily-routine ↩︎
- https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/elon-musk-video-game-setup-government-efficiency-office-1235295732/ ↩︎