Who is Esai Givens? Kick streamer takes home $50,000 after Ice Poseidon announces new winner for the Hunger Games event

Streamer Paul Denino, better known as Ice Poseidon, is known for his wild IRL antics and controversial moments. This time around, he's managed to group 50 streamers in a battle-royale-style competition called Ice Poseidon's Hunger Games. Like Fortnite or PUBG, the playable area shrinks, based on Paul's judgment, and players must adjust to the conditions accordingly.

Each contestant wears a vest that tracks their "health," adding a layer of strategy and intensity. This is the streamer's most ambitious project yet, and after the dust settled, two remained on top: streamers Taemin “TAEMIN1998” and Esai Givens. After an intense battle and a post-game review, Ice Poseidon announced via X that Taemin took first place winning $100,000 and Esai came in second, winning $50,000.

Esai Givens is a North Carolina native and is 24 years old, as of this writing (Image via @esaigivens/Instagram)

Esai has over 1.2 million subscribers on YouTube, with his most popular video, Spin the Bottle Challenge with Glock 23 BB Gun, garnering nearly three million views. Givens seems to have a keen interest in lethal weapons, with most videos on his channel revolving around guns and gun reviews.

Apart from YouTube, Esai streams on Kick, where he has over 4,000 followers, averaging 164 viewers per stream. He was also on Twitch for about two years from June 2022 to May 2024, but his channel is currently unavailable due to a violation of Twitch's Community Guidelines.

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Esai Givens won $50,000 on Ice Poseidon's streamer Hunger Games

The elimination process in Ice Poseidon's Hunger Games involved players physically attacking others to lower their "health", depicted on their safety vests via a green LED. Attacks often got violent with players using paintball guns, pipes, and even their bare hands to eliminate players by fully depleting their health points.

In the game's final moments, Esai Givens faces fellow Kick streamer Taemin. The former can be seen wearing a safety vest while wielding a plastic shield and baton.

[Timestamp - 25:40]

Initially, it was thought that Esai took the win, but after Ice Poseidon investigated the hit detection data for the safety vests on the server, he overturned the win to Taemin. Essentially, Taemin was the last man standing with health and not Esai.

Post the games, when he was asked if he ever thought of quitting, Esai Givens spoke on his difficulties during the event and how he managed to overcome them:

"There [were] nights... I was only with one person so we were outnumbered, two to six, two to eight, I mean it was a lot of sleepless nights. I almost passed out, I almost had a f**king heatstroke one time, I stayed in it... that's the story of my life, against all odds. It was a lot of doubt but thank God I stayed in."

Readers can access the entire Kick Video On Demand (VOD) here.

He also spoke on trust issues and stated that with 50 contestants and $100,000 on the line, relying on others was challenging, especially since he did not know their intentions.