Yoozoo Games’ Former Executive Sentenced to Death for Poisoning Billionaire Founder

Xu Yao, a former executive at Yoozoo Games, has been sentenced to death for poisoning and murdering the company's founder, Lin Qi. The sentencing happened on 22nd March 2024, in connection with the case in December 2020. According to the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court, Xu Yao poisoned Lin's food following a severe disagreement over the management of Yoozoo Games.

Former Executive Given Death Sentence for Poisoning Gaming Company Founder

Reports suggest that Lin, who was 39 years old at the time, consumed a cup of pu-erh tea that was poisoned, leading to severe illness and his demise approximately ten days later. Four other individuals were affected by Xu's poisoning, but they managed to survive. 

Right after the founder's death, Shanghai police detained Xu, placing him as the main suspect in the murder case. Although the incident occurred four years ago, Xu has been recently convicted of homicide and release of hazardous substances, resulting in a death sentence. The primary reason for the poisoning of the Yoozoo Games' founder, Lin Qi, is said to be over some business disputes that the two had. 

Yoozoo owns the film rights to The Three-Body Problem, one of the most famous Chinese science fiction trilogies. The company, in 2020, gave Netflix the right to adapt the trilogy, which, given the franchise's success, was an incredible business move. The adaptation was to be produced by some of the biggest names in the industry, including Game of Thrones creator David Benioff and D.B Weiss. Even Lin Qi was supposed to work as the series' executive producer. 

Lin Qi was One of The Richest Entrepreneurs in China and Successfully Led Yoozoo

Lin Qi, who had a net worth of 1 billion, was one of the richest entrepreneurs in China. He established Yoozoo in 2009 and successfully led them. Yoozoo Games was also behind the development of "Games of Thrones: Winter is Coming," a game based on the original TV series. That's not all; Yoozoo also worked as the co-publisher of Supercell's Brawl Stars along with Tencent Holdings. 

While the company was doing quite well in the gaming industry, it struggled in the motion picture business, as previous projects didn't bring the expected success for them. This could've been the reasons behind the disputes and the murder of the company's founder, leading to a death sentence.