TikTok live streams have entered a new phase — just when we thought the app couldn't astonish us anymore, we are now in the age of the NPC stream — and we've only just begun. NPC stands for ‘non-player character,' a meme born over the last few years in the online culture wars arena that refers to a member of society who follows trends without questioning them.

A Gen-Z Fever Dream?

When you watch one of these live streams, you could be forgiven for thinking you are in a Gen-Z fever dream. One can only describe these phenomena as quasi-human, interactive audience streams where viewers control the host's actions. The streamer then rewards them with a series of rote, android-like responses depending on the gift each person sends.

Ice Cream So Good

The personality at the forefront of this new craze is Pinkydoll, an American streamer who boasts $3,000 in earnings per event. In a recent stream, she is toasting individual popping corn kernels using a heated hair straightener as viewers send her gifts, for which she thanks them with a reply.

“Mmm, ice cream so good; thank you, Emma,” she says as emojis fly up the screen on a recent Tiktok. “Slay, huh — yes, yes, yes; gang-gang.” If someone were to remove the emoji and live chat feed and view it context-free, this might be a haunting, hallucinatory experience.

Non-Player Characters

However, Pinky Doll is the figurehead for a growing craze in which content creators assume their own NPC characters. Curiously, for a pejorative nickname in more conservative circles, youngsters (and some older TikTokers) take inspiration from characters you might see in popular video game plots — game cast members who typically repeat their actions or dialogue.

Virtual Gift Tokens

Subsequently, these streams look exhausting, the host at the whim of each participating viewer responding to maybe 30 gifts per minute. Revenue comes from gift tokens users buy using real cash for tokens they exchange for virtual gift coins, which are then transferred into virtual presents such as roses, ice cream cones, or pandas. Once secured, viewers can see their actions in real-time, winning prizes for accumulating gifts; for example, $100 worth of virtual diamonds will win them a cash prize. After all this, the streamer and TikTok split the net revenue by 50-50.

Robotic Characters

NPC streamers don't copy famous video game characters directly; instead, they adopt more generic actions, movements, or mannerisms; their Pavlovian responses reflect hours spent playing online games and perhaps devotion to anime characters. Pinkydoll's tailored responses differ for each thing she receives. For instance, “Ice cream so good” will be for an ice cream cone, while “Yes, yes, yes” is for a virtual rose.

An Overnight Viral Sensation

Fedha Sinon, the content creator behind the Pinkydoll persona, finds herself in an unusual position of being an overnight viral sensation, revealing in an interview how her live viewership has rocketed from 10,000 per stream earlier this year to 30,000-plus viewers. This number will keep growing as the NPC stream trend develops. 

All Good Promotion

In her swift climb to fame, there have also been negatives. While some people voice their approval for what looks like hard work, not everybody is a fan of this new trend. Comments in social media posts sharing Pinkydoll's new method have criticized the streams, calling the format dehumanizing, bizarre, or cringe.

Nevertheless, Sinon has responded to such criticism. She recently told an interviewer: “Talk bad, talk good; it's still good promotion.”