Learned a new term: NPCs

I was reading a blog post by Loom founder, Vinay, about his journey after selling his company - a raw account of grappling with purpose when money is no longer a motivator. In it, he casually mentions “NPC coworkers”, which got me thinking about this increasingly common phrase.

“NPC” comes from gaming, where it means Non-Playable Character - those background figures programmed to follow set routines, creating atmosphere but lacking any real agency. In corporate contexts, it’s morphed into shorthand for colleagues who seem to operate on autopilot, following predetermined scripts rather than engaging critically with their work.

What fascinates me is how prevalent this behaviour seems to be. In large organisations especially, you’ll find people who appear content to float through their careers without questioning processes, challenging norms, or contributing original thought. They arrive at 9, leave at 5, and seem perfectly happy to execute the same tasks day after day without ever asking why.

Perhaps it’s comfortable, this autopilot existence. But I can’t help wondering: how does someone reach that point? When do they decide to trade curiosity and agency for predictability and routine? The very notion of drifting through life like a pre-programmed character in someone else’s game feels deeply unsettling.

Then again, maybe that’s exactly why the gaming metaphor has stuck - because in many corporate environments, that’s precisely what people have become: background characters in someone else’s story.