Many users on TikTok have been acting as non-playable characters from video games during livestreams making more than thousands of dollars. And now others are hopping on the viral sensation.
The trend, dubbed as the “NPC livestream” has viewers sending in gifts for streamers to react to in real time. For each gift, creators earn an influx of tips, equivalent to real cash dollars. These non-playable characters are standard features of many video games.
This phenomenon has grown so big that some like one user named Pinkydoll spends at least six hours a day on TikTok making NPC content.
These “Live NPC” streams have quite literally got our phones and turned us into robots ????? pic.twitter.com/TX8LdjxwXR
— tristan (@Twister209) July 18, 2023
Nahhhh these npc TikTok live streams are getting WAYYYY outta hand ???????????? pic.twitter.com/Pz4i6MWDHj
— monae (spooky version) ???????? (@fakeyourbirth) July 19, 2023
Pinkydoll says when she first stated her livestreams, she was making close to $250 per day. Now the creator is earning up to $7,000 per day. Pinkydoll, says “Ice cream so good” when given an ice cream gift, “Gang gang” when given a GG icon and “You got me feeling like a cowgirl” when given a cowboy hat. The actions mimic the mannerisms of NPC on games like Grand Theft Auto.
this is a pinkydoll stan account pic.twitter.com/zs4531fhv6
— ꜱɪʟᴋᴋ ᴅᴀ ꜱᴏᴀᴋᴀʜ (@soberthots_) July 13, 2023
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Even big name creators like Trisha Paytas have joined in.
Trisha Paytas is the latest content creator to join the current trend of “NPC” live-streaming on TikTok. pic.twitter.com/WWaroBGnrY
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 18, 2023
Reactions to these non-playable character livestreams on social media have pointed out how fascinating and yet bizarre the trend can be.
THE NPC TIKTOK LIVE STREAMERS ARE BREAKING IMMERSION pic.twitter.com/b6ye5uZJPw
— OTK (@OTKnetwork) July 17, 2023
The robotic nature of these characters have driven users to send mass amounts of gifts where some can’t even keep up at times. Others have noted that they are making more money doing this than at their standard day job.
Aside from the mass amount of money coming into the platform and creators, some people have trolled the trend online.
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@mamaa.arii Yall made me do it okay ???? #pinkydoll #icecream #npc #tiktoklive #fyp #foryou #comedy #viral #trending #pov #skit #justforfun #wtf
There has not been any official word from TikTok on how much traffic this has brought to the platform nor on how much users are spending on gifts for livestreams.
Artists like Timbaland have been reported as one of Pinkydoll’s top supporters as well. In one livestream, Pinkydoll gave Timbaland a shoutout when he joined the stream.
“Timbaland in the building, we going to Pluto, wherever you at. Where you at, Timbaland?” she said.
Timbaland shared a video of Pinkydoll’s shoutout on Twitter this past Monday writing the caption “YES yes YES” emulating one of the popular phrases from livestreams.
???????? YES yes YES pic.twitter.com/wk4sacAic0
— Timbaland (@Timbaland) July 17, 2023
The influx of tips can be big for some creators like Pinkydoll, who has nearly 500,000 followers online. Some creators have been joining after seeing rapid success in a span of nearly just a few days.
One video from viral creator Pinkydoll, known for her hours on end livestreams, has a countdown while telling a child to go to bed. The video has more than 230,000 likes on TikTok.
