China Executes Death Penalty: Case Closed on the Poisoning of Yoozoo Games Founder and 'Three-Body' Rights Holder Lin Qi

According to BBC and other media reports, Chinese authorities carried out the death penalty in May 2026, executing Xu Yao, who was sentenced for poisoning Lin Qi, the founder of Yoozoo Games. The relevant news was confirmed by Yoozoo Games through a statement on May 26.

In the statement, Yoozoo Games said that "justice has finally been served" and expressed condolences to Lin Qi's family. The company stated that, as colleagues who once fought alongside Lin Qi, they expressed gratitude for the "fairness" of the judicial process.

Lin Qi was the founder of Yoozoo China's well-known gaming company Yoozoo Games, and also one of the key promoters of the film and television development of the Chinese sci-fi IP "The Three-Body Problem". Yoozoo Games once held the film and television adaptation rights for "The Three-Body Problem" series and cooperated with Netflix to promote the development of the English-language series of "The Three-Body Problem". The Netflix version of "The Three-Body Problem", launched in 2024, became one of the platform's popular series, and the late Lin Qi was also listed as one of the executive producers.

According to previous public information from Chinese courts and media, the cause of the case was related to internal power conflicts within the company. Xu Yao was appointed by Lin Qi in 2018 to be responsible for business related to "The Three-Body Universe", a department responsible for the development and operation of derivative projects of the "The Three-Body Problem" IP. However, the relationship between the two deteriorated subsequently.

Chinese media reports stated that in 2020, Lin Qi adjusted the company's business management structure, putting some core affairs in charge of other senior executives, which caused Xu Yao to feel resentful. Afterwards, Xu Yao allegedly disguised toxic substances as probiotic medicine and gave them to Lin Qi to take.

In December 2020, Lin Qi was hospitalized due to physical discomfort and died nine days later at the age of only 39. Chinese police subsequently arrested Xu Yao. In addition to Lin Qi, the poisoning behavior in the case also caused physical abnormalities in multiple other personnel.

A Chinese court sentenced Xu Yao to death in 2024 and described the case as "extremely vicious in nature." According to reports, the death penalty was executed on May 21, 2026.

At the time of Lin Qi's death, his personal wealth was estimated to be around 6.8 billion RMB. Yoozoo Games, which he founded, had launched well-known game products such as "Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming" and had a high influence in the Chinese gaming industry.

The original author of "The Three-Body Problem" is Chinese sci-fi writer Liu Cixin. "The Three-Body Problem" and its affiliated "Remembrance of Earth's Past" series have a wide international influence, have been translated into nearly 30 languages, and have long been regarded as one of the most representative works of Chinese sci-fi literature.

This case caused a huge shock in the Chinese internet and business circles at the time. On the one hand, the case involved internal power struggles, capital interests, and senior management issues within large Chinese internet enterprises; on the other hand, it also made the outside world pay attention again to the extreme risks under China's corporate governance structure and high-pressure competitive environment.

Some Chinese media also mentioned that other personnel who were victims in the case posted on social platforms recently saying: "Justice will eventually arrive, even if it is late."

At present, there is still a lack of complete public information from the outside world regarding the specific source of poison, implementation details, and deeper internal conflicts within the enterprise in the case. Due to the limited transparency of China's judicial system, some details still rely mainly on official disclosures and media reports.