Nearly three and a half years after the high-profile poisoning death of a Chinese gaming billionaire whose company secured adaptation rights for one of the world’s most beloved science fiction franchises, authorities have carried out the death sentence for the perpetrator, local Chinese media confirmed this week.
The convicted killer, identified as Xu Yao, was the former head of a subsidiary at Yoozoo Games, the Shanghai-based entertainment company founded by Lin Qi, a 39-year-old industry tycoon who died in December 2020 just days after being poisoned. Court documents and local reporting outline that the fatal attack grew out of a bitter professional dispute: Xu had played a key role in helping Lin secure the coveted media rights deal for Liu Cixin’s *The Three-Body Problem* with streaming giant Netflix, but was rapidly sidelined from key projects within the company shortly after the deal closed.
In a calculated plot that put multiple lives at risk, Xu spent hundreds of thousands of yuan — equivalent to tens of thousands of U.S. dollars — to procure lethal toxic substances from online vendors, including alpha-amanitin, a powerful deadly toxin produced by some species of poisonous mushroom. To conceal his plan, Xu rebranded the poisons as everyday consumer products: he molded some into fake probiotic pills, and laced other common workplace items including coffee capsules, drinking water containers, and a bottle of whisky before offering them to Lin and other fellow employees at the firm.
Multiple other staff members who ingested the tainted substances fell ill, but all ultimately recovered. Lin, however, could not be saved, and he died in a Shanghai hospital just days after the poisoning, shocking China’s entertainment and technology industries.
*The Three-Body Problem*, Liu Cixin’s landmark three-part sci-fi series, has become a global cultural phenomenon since its original publication in China. Liu made history as the first Chinese author to win the Hugo Award, the most prestigious prize in science fiction, and the series has since been translated into more than 40 languages, reaching millions of readers worldwide. It has spawned a massive growing domestic Chinese sci-fi industry, and multiple high-profile adaptations, including the hit 2024 Netflix original series *3 Body Problem*, which introduced the story to a whole new global audience. Yoozoo Games, through its affiliate Three-Body Universe, holds the official film and media adaptation rights for the franchise.
After a years-long legal process, Xu was found guilty of murder in 2024, and was executed on May 21, according to official and media reports. On Tuesday, Three-Body Universe confirmed the outcome of the case in an official statement posted to Chinese social media platform Weibo.
The statement read: “Recently, the case concerning Mr. Lin Qi, the founder of Three-Body Universe, has finally reached its conclusion, and justice has ultimately been served. All of us at the company are deeply grateful for the upholding of justice.”
As of Wednesday, Yoozoo Games had not responded to additional requests for comment from outside media, and the Shanghai High People’s Court also declined to respond to emailed requests for further details on the case.