Former Yoozoo Games executive Xu Yao was sentenced to death on Friday for the 2020 murder of Lin Qi, founder of the Chinese gaming company and billionaire “3 Body Problem” producer.
The Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court found on March 22 that Xu was guilty of poisoning the food of founder Lin, 39, over a dispute with how the business was being managed. Lin died while in the hospital 10 days after the December incident, and Xu was arrested shortly thereafter, according to CBS’ reporting.
The court additionally found that four other individuals fell ill as a result of Xu poisoning drinks in the Yoozoo offices between September and December of that same year, citing disputes with two other coworkers. They all survived.
The poisonings were done three months after Yozoo had brokered a deal with Netflix to adapt China’s bestselling “The Three-Body Problem” book trilogy, to which Lin owned the rights. Xu was in charge of the subsidiary that ran business related to the sci-fi series’ 2020 deal, according to Chinese Media reports and the AP.
Coincidentally, Netflix’s “3 Body Problem” is not the first time Yoozoo has worked with series cocreators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. The gaming company also developed “Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming,” based on their hit HBO series.
Lin is posthumously credited as an executive producer on “3 Body Problem,” which debuted March 21.
