Elon Musk quits favourite video game after being ‘cyber-bullied'
Mr Musk, the world's richest man, streamed himself playing Path of Exile 2 on his private jet over the weekend in an attempt to show off Starlink's in-flight WiFi.
For around 90 minutes, he sat mostly in silence as his on-screen character kept dying – despite his claim to be one of the best players of the game in the world.
Although Mr Musk is a member of Donald Trump 's inner circle, the in-game chat was open to anyone. Within five minutes, cyberbullies logged on and began taunting him about issues including his video game skills and alleged relationship problems.
One message, which appeared on-screen alongside Mr Musk's head, read: 'You will always feel insecure and it will never go away.'
Another user, pretending to be a conservative influencer who claims to have had Mr Musk's 13th child, wrote: 'Elon. It's me, Ashley St. Claire. I have no other means of contacting you so I bought PoE2 early access. Please pay your child support. Thank you Elon.'
Mr Musk was also told to perform a sex act on Mr Trump so that the US president 'dies of a heart attack'.
Another message said Vivian Wilson, Mr Musk's estranged transgender daughter, was right about him being terrible at video games.
Some attempted to help the billionaire, advising him to mute the in-game chat to stop the cascade of abusive messages.
Others encouraged people to buy Tesla stocks, or thanked him for his work with Starlink and Doge, the government efficiency drive spearheaded by Mr Musk.
The boss
After his character was repeatedly killed by the 'boss' in the section of the game meant to teach the basic controls, Mr Musk quit saying the connection was broken, although the stream was still live.
Rage-quit means exactly what it sounds like: the act of quitting an activity – in this case, a video game – because it it was becoming increasingly unbearable.
'Well, lost connection,' he told viewers. 'Connection lost.'
Path of Exile 2 is reported to be one of the billionaire's favourite games.
However, Mr Musk's claim of being one of the world's top players has failed to stand up to scrutiny – particularly after the Tesla owner reportedly admitted to paying people to boost his in-game character account.
The game is a role-playing adventure set in a fantasy world where a player controls a character that gains skills by completing quests and defeating enemies.
It is yet to be fully released, but an early-access version has been made available to elite .
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