Multi-billionaire and Main Character Syndrome-afflicted Elon Musk claims that he was one of the best Quake players around at some point in his life. The internet reacts to this outrageous claim the way you'd imagine it would, given that the Quake community in the US has been tightly knit during the infancy of the esports industry, and there was no Elon Musk to be found.

During an interview in Lex Fridman's Podcast, Musk describes playing video games as his medium of choice for recreation, reminiscing his days playing Diablo and Quake. He would then claim that he played in one of the US' first paid esports tournaments for Quake, claiming that his team won second place, earning prize money in the process.

“I am 52 so my reflexes are not what they used to be but I have a lifetime of playing videogames,” says Musk. “At one point I was maybe one of the best Quake players in the world,” he claims.

“I actually won money in what I think was one of the first paid esports tournaments in the US, we're doing four-person Quake tournaments and we came second. I was the second best person on the team, and the best person… we were actually winning, we would've come first but the best person on the team, his computer crashed halfway through the game so we came second. But I got money for it and everything. So basically I got skills. Albeit, you know, no spring chicken these days.”

(Hat tip to PC Gamer for the transcription through their article about the topic)

Of course, the internet didn't take this claim seriously and started making fun of Elon Musk's unlikely claim, which he may have thought to be a subtle flex to his gaming bros.

Others even laughed at some of his choice words in the podcast, equating the act of killing video game demons to calming the “demons in [his] mind.”

 

Did Elon Musk actually compete in Quake tournaments?

Whether or not Elon Musk was once one of the greatest Quake players of all time is definitely up for debate, but what about his claim of playing in Quake tournaments from decades ago? Apparently, Musk might not be capping here, as a few years back, an actual former Quake pro mentioned in a separate podcast that he remembers playing against Musk in one of the Quake servers from the early days, although no tournaments were mentioned during the conversation.

“Elon Musk, he's known as a huge gamer,” says Dennis ‘Thresh' Fong in a podcast interview with DJWheat. “We used to play on the same Quake server, almost every day I'd see him on: Zip2 was his username.”

He would resurface to stand behind Elon Musk's claims, chiming in on the conversation on Twitter:

“FWIW, I can confirm @elonmusk  played a lot of Quake so it’s legit. We played on the same kitty1.stanford.edu servers often. I believe your handle was Zip2, right @elonmusk? Our mutual friend @BrandenSpikes might be the good player he was referring to.”

Branden Spikes has yet to throw his hat into the conversation, but that's at least one pro, and a pretty reliable one at that, vetting Elon Musk's gaming credentials.

Well, I guess we can also include “former esports pro player” on Elon Musk's long resume.