Chinese officials have carried out the death sentence against a man who murdered a wealthy gaming executive using poison in a workplace revenge scheme, according to media reports from Taiwan.
The executed individual, Xu Yao, was found guilty of murdering Lin Qi, who established the Shanghai-based gaming company Yoozoo Games. Lin’s firm possessed the movie rights to a bestselling science fiction book series called “The Three-Body Problem.”
The science fiction novels, written by Chinese author Liu Cixin, have been published in over 40 languages and transformed into various entertainment formats, including the Netflix television series “3 Body Problem” that debuted in 2024.
According to media accounts, Xu previously led a division within Yoozoo Games and killed Lin in December 2020 after being marginalized by the company founder. This occurred shortly after Xu had assisted his boss in securing the Netflix agreement.
Court proceedings concluded with Xu’s conviction in 2024, and authorities executed him on May 21, media outlets reported.
The gaming company acknowledged the execution through a Tuesday announcement on the Weibo social media service.
“Recently, the case concerning Mr. Lin Qi, the founder of Three-Body Universe, has finally reached its conclusion, and justice has ultimately been served,” the statement read.
“All of us at the company are deeply grateful for the upholding of justice,” it continued.
Neither Yoozoo Games nor the Shanghai High People’s Court provided immediate responses to requests for additional information on Wednesday.
Media reports indicate that Xu purchased expensive toxic materials online, spending hundreds of thousands of yuan (equivalent to tens of thousands of dollars). These included alpha-amanitin, a deadly substance present in certain toxic mushrooms.
The perpetrator concealed these poisons within fake probiotic supplements and also placed them in coffee pods, drinking water, and whisky containers before distributing them to Lin and additional company workers.
Medical personnel hospitalized Lin in December 2020, where he passed away several days afterward at age 39.
Multiple other individuals became ill from the poisoning but survived, according to media accounts.
“The Three-Body Problem” book series has achieved widespread success in China and internationally. Its creator, Liu, made history as the first Chinese author to receive the Hugo Award, considered the most prestigious honor in science fiction.
Within China, these works have sparked expansion of the science fiction entertainment sector, encompassing films, computer games, publications, periodicals and exhibitions.
