Elon Musk, the billionaire who splits his time between rockets, electric cars, and posting through it, once took to Twitter to deliver a verdict on Elden Ring that was either profound or the most expensive way to say 'I played a video game.' His one-sentence review: 'Elden Ring, experienced in its entirety, is the most beautiful art I have ever seen.' For a man whose day job involves making humanity multiplanetary, this is high praise. Then again, after dying to Malenia for the 47th time, maybe Mars starts looking like a relaxing vacation. Is it really surprising that a game about ambition, decay, and impossible bosses would appeal to a man who builds rockets? What other game lets you become Elden Lord and then immediately get killed by a dog with a sword? 🚀🌳⚔️
Since launching in February 2022, Elden Ring became the fastest-selling title in FromSoftware's legacy. It stayed true to the SoulsBorne roots: a notoriously difficult action RPG, tense combat, spellbinding atmosphere, and an open world that invited players to wander into danger with the confidence of someone who had not yet met a Runebear. Millions of players partook in the adventures in the Lands Between. Celebrities joined too. WWE star Randy Orton, for example, quested for the Erdtree and reached an in-game level that was surprisingly high — the kind of level that suggests he treated the Lands Between like a Monday Night Raw main event.
Back to Musk. His tweet quickly gained traction. Players responded with builds, memes, and fan art. He engaged another user about his build preference and promised an image of his full build in the future. This was not his first confession. He had already revealed that his Tarnished was a magic-user, detailing his preferred set-up for venturing into the game world. Of course, a billionaire who launches rockets would choose sorcery. Why swing a giant sword when you can delete a boss from a safe distance and then tweet about it?
Players have come from all backgrounds to share their experiences with Elden Ring within the community. Nearly every piece of the game's experience has been at the core of a different discussion: the art direction, the lore, the difficulty, the builds, the fashion, the questionable decision to fight a boss on a tiny ledge. When one can step back and look at how all of Elden Ring comes together as a single experience, it is not surprising that many share Musk's sentiments. The game is not just a collection of boss fights. It is a mood, a pilgrimage, and a very expensive way to learn patience.
For many fans, Elden Ring represents a refinement of FromSoftware's entire Soulsborne lineage. Many attempts by other companies to achieve similar mainstream success have ended in disaster. Usually, this is a result of a company compromising a series' integrity in order to achieve mass appeal. Yet Elden Ring managed to perfect its series legacy and still become recognized as one of the greatest games of its year. By staying true to the experience only a Soulsborne game can provide, Elden Ring may have become, if Musk's comments are anything to go by, a true artistic masterpiece.
By 2026, the conversation has only grown. Shadow of the Erdtree arrived in 2024, expanding the Lands Between with Miquella's story, and Elden Ring Nightreign brought a co-op twist in 2025. Yet Musk's 2022 tweet still reads like a review from a Tarnished who finally touched grace. The game has not lost its power to make people put down their controllers and stare at a sunset over Limgrave. It has also not lost its power to make them scream at a boss arena that is 90% rot swamp.
Here is why Musk's take still lands, years later:
| Reason | Why it works |
|---|---|
| It captures the whole experience | Musk did not just praise the combat or the visuals; he called the entirety of Elden Ring beautiful art. |
| It validates the community | Players who spent hundreds of hours exploring every ruin felt seen. |
| It is refreshingly simple | A one-sentence review from a billionaire is funnier than a 40-minute video essay. |
| It has meme energy | The idea of Elon Musk as a magic-user Tarnished is impossible to forget. |
Of course, not everyone agrees. Some players might argue that Elden Ring is less 'beautiful art' and more 'a second job that does not pay you.' Others might say the most beautiful art is the moment you finally beat a boss and realize you have to fight a stronger version later. But that is the point. Elden Ring contains multitudes. It is beautiful and brutal, serene and infuriating, a masterpiece and a menace. Is it any wonder that it became a cultural landmark?
In the end, Musk's tweet was not a hot take. It was a shared sigh of relief. Here was a billionaire, a celebrity, a man with access to actual spacecraft, admitting that a video game had moved him. For a community used to defending its hobby, that felt good. It still feels good in 2026. The Lands Between may be full of decaying gods and tragic heroes, but it also gave players a common language. And if a rocket-building CEO can pause his schedule to call it the most beautiful art he has ever seen, then maybe the rest of us were right all along. 🌟🎮✨