The latest target of Tesla TSLA, -1.48% CEO Elon Musk’s ire? The video game Fortnite.
In a post on Twitter, Musk jokingly claimed on Friday to have purchased and then deleted the popular online video game, saying it “had to been (sic) done.” The tweet included an image that appears to be an edited screenshot of a MarketWatch article.
Had to been done ur welcome pic.twitter.com/7jT0f9lqIS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 19, 2018
Fortnite’s official Twitter TWTR, -1.57% account responded by poking fun at the fact that it will take a decade for Musk’s SpaceX to build its first base on Mars. Musk replied, saying, “Reality is hard.”
Fortnite is an online video game that was first released in 2017 and can be played on many devices, including Windows computers MSFT, +0.15% Android GOOGL, +0.66% and Apple AAPL, +1.52% mobile devices, the Nintendo Switch NTDOY, -3.87% the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 SNE, -0.64% The Battle Royale mode of the game had 125 million players as of June.
A whole decade, @elonmusk? Just build, LOL!https://t.co/BkBlpzFI6v
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) October 20, 2018
More: Here’s how much Tesla lost in market cap now that Musk’s SEC settlement is approved
Musk’s post also elicited a slew of retorts from the Tesla and Fortnite fans alike. An Elon Musk parody account called Bored Elon Musk tweeted that Musk should “stay in [his] lane.” (Musk, in a reply, suggested that he may be the creator of the parody account.)
Others joked that Musk should buy T-Series, the Indian music record label that runs a YouTube channel with the second largest number of subscribers behind video game commentator PewDiePie. Another Twitter user suggested that Musk “buy and delete” Ford F, -0.12% instead.
Stay in your lane bro. https://t.co/Qm5wHDzQFN
— Bored Elon Musk (@BoredElonMusk) October 19, 2018
Musk engaged with many of the people who commented on the tweet, including one person who took issue with his implication that Fortnite players don’t have social lives. The game is wildly popular with young men — much to the dismay of some of their parents, who are sometimes left to foot the bill when players buy extras while they’re playing.
See: SEC settlement forces Tesla to give Elon Musk adult supervision
In late September, Musk and Tesla agreed to a $40 million settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over fraud charges related to Musk’s tweets earlier this year in which he claimed to be exploring taking the automaker private.
The settlement also forced Tesla to remove Musk as chairman of the board and required the company to set up guidelines and oversight regarding Musk’s social media presence.
