Elon Musk an “OG” ‘Quake’ player according to one of the game’s top competitors

One of the best Quake players in the world has confirmed Elon Musk’s claims that he once played with the game’s top-level competitors, though he “wasn’t very good”.

In a podcast with computer scientist Lex Fridman, Elon Musk stated that he has a “lifetime of playing video games”. Musk then said that “at one point I was, you know, maybe one of the best Quake players in the world”, and mentioned that he “actually won money” in “the first paid esports tournament in the US.”

Posters on X (formerly Twitter) doubted the claim, with many questioning whether Musk was simply trying to brag. One poster stated that “he might have been good in casual matches, but I’m skeptical he could take on the pros.”

However, Dennis “Thresh” Fong, recognized by the Guinness World Records as the very first professional gamer and often seen as one of the best Quake players ever has confirmed that while Musk may not be one of the best Quake players ever as per his claim, he did still play Quake back in the day.

“FWIW, I can confirm Elon Musk played a lot of Quake so it’s legit.” Fong posted on X.

In a podcast from three years ago, First Person Origins, DJWheat spoke to Fong about Musk briefly.

“Elon Musk, he’s known as a huge gamer,” Fong said. “We used to play in the same Quake server. Almost every day I’d see him on, he’d be playing as zip2 which was his username.”

DJWheat then asked whether Musk was any good at Quake, to which Fong nervously laughed and replied “he wasn’t very good, but he’s still an OG, he’s legit when he says he’s a gamer.”

In other gaming news, Ubisoft has pulled all advertising from X following allegations of anti-semitism against CEO Elon Musk.