How TikTok creator Pinkydoll sparked the fascination with NPC broadcasts

TikTok creators are embracing a weird new live genre where they broadcast themselves acting like non-player video game characters.

Viewers of these streams become the puppeteers of real-life NPCs, who in the gaming world are usually spectators in stories programmed to speak only from predetermined choices of dialogue options.

Content creators can earn “tips” from viewers who can buy virtual currency to spend on cartoon gifts that can be converted into real money. During NPC streams, gifts activate specific phrases or actions – performed with the same tones of voice and automated movements every time.

The live-streaming genre received widespread attention when one of her catchphrases, “Very good ice cream,” which she says every time viewers offer her virtual ice cream cones, went viral. Pinkydoll, which has 553,000 Among her TikTok followers is rapper Timbaland, and he has stirred up so much confusion and intrigue that she He got her own entry In the database get to know your meme.

Junxi Chen, a full-time Minecraft streamer with online NathanLIVE, decided to give it a try himself after he started watching NPC streams on his For You page about a week ago. Always wearing a straw hat, he teases and reacts to every gift – loudly licking a virtual ice cream cone or bringing a chocolate strawberry to his mouth with chopsticks.

“I realized that being an NPC streamer is a kind of traditional scene, where usually when someone donates or subscribes, they say thank you,” Chen said. “But as a graffiti NPC, the streamer will react to the gift as his way of saying thanks.”

TikTokers Natuecoco and Satoyu727, both of whom initially found success adopting anime characters in their videos, were some of the first to focus on NPC broadcasts. During their streams, they perform behaviors and sound effects often seen and heard in anime-style video games.

To add to the experience of interacting with an NPC video game, Satoyu727 will sometimes replay an action before it completes the animation, which often happens when the player taps again on a character before it has finished speaking.

YouTuber Cherry Crush, known for her ASMR videos, has also become one of the most prominent content creators in the space after her NPC streams went viral this year. Her TikTok bio describes her as “Your Artificial Intelligence Tamagotchi.”

When idle, she stares wide-eyed at the camera as she hops around like an NPC, occasionally expressing “hunger” to encourage viewers to send gifts. Some items will elicit an enthusiastic acknowledgment of the type of food, followed by the words “yummy,” for kids, while other gifts, like chili peppers, will cause her to dismiss it with “not spicy.”

“Mm, pumpkin, yum. I’m hungry,” she said in one stream. Ohm Ohm. “

Many viewers stay on LIVEs in hopes of catching a dashing character in NPC streamers. Some online have begun spoofing the absurdity of such streams, highlighting the disconnect between on-camera streamers’ behavior and their real-life personas.

Although observers make fun of them, the endless stream of gifts like streamers offered by NPCs has inspired many creators to jump in on the trend while it’s still hot. For many, the earning potential is worth the internet hate that comes with being “awkward.”

Chen said he was prepared for a lot of harassment when he started. Instead, an average of 2,000 viewers remained at all times throughout the four-hour broadcast, and it ended up gathering more than 1.3 million views. He said it earned him $650.

Although his NPC stream’s earnings never exceeded the income he gets from his Minecraft streams, Chen said he’s excited to continue pursuing the genre. He said he’s not worried about comments from those who disparage these kinds of streams.

“Obviously, there must be someone who wants to spend that money on the operator to make that much money,” he said. “It’s hard to make money, and seeing someone do these things and make more money than doctors and lawyers, I think, might be part of why there’s so much hate.”