X/Twitter owner Elon Musk lit up social media feeds today when he launched a wave of posts publicly criticizing Twitch streamer and content creator Zack Hoyt (a.k.a. Asmongold) following controversy regarding the tech billionaire’s high-level gameplay of Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile 2.

Musk first shared his thoughts in a reply to a post from YouTuber Screamheart, who published a two-minute clip from a new video that dives into the allegations surrounding the X owner’s Path of Exile 2 gameplay. The full video totals eight minutes and includes approximately 20 seconds of footage from Asmongold’s livestreams where he alleges that Musk is not totally responsible for the progress made on his level 97 Path of Exile 2 character.

“There is no way he played that account. Like, I’m sorry,” Asmongold says in the clip. “I think he bought the account, or somebody played it for him. A hundred-f***ing-percent.”

Asmon behaves like a maverick “independent”, but in reality has to ask his boss for permission before he can do anything. He is not his own man.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025

Musk’s response includes a series of replies where he calls the streamer “not his own man.” The billionaire also took the opportunity to post what Asmongold is calling a picture of “leaked” direct messages shared through X where the two previously spoke about how the streamer manages his YouTube account. It was a moment that has led to a messy back-and-forth between the two social media giants, and it’s preceded by in-depth investigation into Musk’s involvement in the gaming space.

Musk has long been championed as a gaming enthusiast. For years, he’s mentioned his appreciation for Blizzard Entertainment’s work on titles like Overwatch, and just yesterday, he said he still plays games “as my one recreational activity to quiet my mind.”

However, Musk’s self-proclaimed gaming prowess has been brought into question in recent months as players began to take a closer look at his performance and knowledge of the games he plays.

One title that has seemingly taken up hundreds of hours of Musk’s time is 2023’s Diablo 4, though as he’s climbed leaderboards and chatted with developers on X, many have commented on how much time he might be dedicating to Blizzard’s dungeon-crawling experience. In November of last year, the billionaire boasted about his place as one of the top 20 Diablo 4 players in the world, and he reached the number one spot a few weeks later. While others spend hundreds if not thousands of hours merely chipping away at the never-ending faucet of content available, Musk has maintained his gaming status while juggling his responsibilities as a figurehead of companies like X, SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and more.

Leaking my DM’s is one thing but this is absolutely uncalled for https://t.co/I4eRo2QPKF

— Zack (@Asmongold) January 16, 2025

Discussion about Musk’s abilities as a gamer reached a new level after a recent, early January livestream that saw Musk tackling endgame tasks in Path of Exile 2 drew criticism from fans. Videos like those from content creators such as Quin69TV, penguinz0, and Asmongold have garnered millions of views as action RPG veterans analyze footage and commentary posted by the tech giant. One specific point of contention revolves around his (now deceased) level 97 Hardcore character, Percy_Verence.

“Two weeks into the league, when people are playing the game, literally, they are staying up 40 to 50 hours without sleeping, only playing Path of Exile – and they are the most try-hard guys in the world – the highest-ranked player in the Hardcore trade league was level 93,” Quin69TV explains in his video ‘Elon Musk is Lying About Being Good at Video Games.’

“You’re thinking to yourself, ‘That’s kind of close to 97.’ Every time you level up, it becomes exponentially harder to gain experience. A lot harder. So, these players, to get to level 97, had to be playing the game every day for the majority of their day.”

Musk’s stream features a number of moments that players are pointing to as signs he may not be quite as familiar with Path of Exile 2’s endgame mechanics as one might expect him to be after spending so much time in its world.

Seemingly struggling to access Maps, strange tab names, illogical inventory management, leaving behind rare loot, and a disregard for notoriously powerful weapons is just some of the evidence from Musk’s stream that players are using to accuse the billionaire of not playing nearly as much as he says he is.

Normally, when a sequel is announced that’s a wild departure from the original, I welcome it with open arms – look no further than my inexplicable but everlasting love of Banjo-Kazooie Nuts N Bolts as evidence. But after just a day with Hyper Light Breaker – a follow-up (though not a proper sequel) to one of my all-time favorite indie games, Hyper Light Drifter – I feel like Vito Corleone telling y’all to look at how they massacred my boy. I’ve only sunk six hours into this incredibly challenging co-op roguelike so far, and although there’s clearly the skeleton of a good action-RPG in here somewhere, it’s currently buried deeper than the sun can see under sloppy combat mechanics, shallow and frustrating exploration, and scant content that began to feel repetitive only two hours in. Of course, this is its early access launch, so there’s always hope an initially rough package will transform into something much better with enough time – but in terms of what’s here right now, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

The goal of a run is to hunt around a randomized map for better gear and key items before taking on three highly deadly and supremely irritating bosses hiding out on each map, then extract yourself back to base to regroup, buy some upgrades, and do it again. I’ve already bested a couple bosses, which summon minions endlessly and flop around erratically to do massive damage, but have yet to complete a map in its entirety, which I’m assuming won’t happen until I near the end of what’s currently available in early access.

Maybe the combat will grow on me once I get deeper in, but it makes an absolutely terrible first impression. There isn’t anything interesting about the melee hack-and-slash attacks you are given, the alternative third-person shooting option has very limited ammo, moving and dodging feel unresponsive and inconsistent, and the lock-on system constantly toggles itself off unexpectedly and gets me killed.

All of these things are especially frustrating when Hyper Light Breaker is immediately difficult – and I mean extremely difficult, and that’s coming from someone with all the achievements in Sekiro – but doesn’t bother to explain its rules and often punishes you with an onslaught of enemy attacks that feel cheap. It’s also extremely funny that you start with no healing items (and are only given them at great expense and extremely sparingly) when you’d think you would need them most at the beginning when you’re learning. Instead, you basically have to throw yourself at impossible odds until you can unlock the bare minimum you need to survive.

So I’ve spent most of my time running around procedurally generated worlds that at least look quite pretty, using a unique art style that channels Hyper Light Drifter in 3D quite well. But these repetitive areas are extremely irritating to navigate, filled with awkward cliffs and crooked landscapes that feel like I’m not actually supposed to be climbing them but offer me no other choice. On the bright side, they at least give you a neat hoverboard to ride around on and do tricks, and although the controls are as sloppy as everything else, hoverboards are indeed still dope as hell and there are definitely some good times to be had there.

I’ve got a whole lot left to do and see before I’m ready to finalize my review sometime next week, and it’s a little encouraging that combat is becoming a bit more bearable as I start to understand its unpolished ways and gain more than zero healing items. But so far I’m not having a good time, and that’s not what I was expecting from this long-awaited follow-up, even taking into account this is its early access launch.

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