A French-Canadian TikTok creator PinkyDoll has brought the niche world of NPC streaming into sharp focus. NPC streamers are real people who make money by imitating a video game character as though that game character were imitating a real person. The acronym itself means non-playable character. The trend is mostly characterized by the repetition of robotic movements or nonsensical catchphrases.

Last week, Pinkydoll went viral on Twitter when a clip from her TikTok live stream session was shared on the platform. In the clip, PinkyDoll can be seen repeatedly saying phrases like “Ice cream so good!” “Gang, gang!” “Strong woman!” and “yes yes yes”. In the videos where she repeatedly says these phrases, Pinkydoll can be seen wearing a long straight, bleached blonde wig, a form-fitting outfit and long nails. 

She recites these phrases with robotic, anime-inspired movements, in reaction to the gifts she receives during her TikTok live. She can be seen placing single pieces of corn into a hair straightener until they pop into popcorn. 

For Twitter users who do not understand the nuances of TikTok live streams, the first viral video of PinkyDoll was met with uproar.  As more and more clips from PinkyDoll’s live surfaced, they were criticized, and approached with confusion. Most of all, people could and still can not stop watching.

A Rising Trend

Despite the initial reaction towards her videos, PinkyDoll has been receiving a lot of love for her live streams. Some of the about-turn has been chalked up to the fact that she is an attractive woman. There is also the fact that more people have been made aware of NPC streaming, as well as the benefits it allows its creators. PinkyDoll for instance, regularly has upwards of 17,000 people watching her live streams. Pinkydoll makes as high as $7,000 a day.

Her live streams have been watched by the likes of Timbaland and even Cardi B has used a clip from one of Pinkydoll’s livestreams in a tweet.

While speaking to Vice about why she became an NPC streamer, Pinkydoll shared that “I needed money to feed my kid and pay the bills. I had no job. I decided to put all my effort on TikTok to make money and I wasn’t expecting to go viral and make all that money. It was a shock.”

The news of the monetary gains that NPC streamers enjoy has inspired a plethora of TikTok users to jump on the bandwagon. A TikTok user who goes by Nerdywinter also made a video where she stitched Pinkydoll saying she would also become an NPC streamer. So far, she has made as much as $1,600 from a few days of streaming. Right now, it is unclear how many more creators will be jumping on the NPC trend, but it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.