A former executive of Yoozoo Games, Xu Yao, has been sentenced to death in China for poisoning company founder Lin Qi. While we understand some bosses can be awful, this seems like a massive overreaction.
In December 2020, Xu poisoned some pu-erh tea consumed by Lin, according to the Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court. Lin, who was only 39 at the time, died about 10 days later. Xu was detained by police just a few days after his passing. This malicious act was reportedly done due to a dispute over running Yoozoo, and the omission of Xu from producer credits- preventing various monetary bonuses- on Netflix’s new series, “3 Body Problem.”
Court records indicate Xu poisoned beverages in the office between September and December 2020. This caused four other staff members also to become seriously ill, but none of these illnesses were fatal.
What is Yoozoo?
Yoozoo owns the film rights to the best-selling Chinese science fiction trilogy “The Three-Body Problem.” In September 2020, the company granted Netflix the rights to adapt the series, which hit the streamer earlier this month. The company also developed “Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming” PC game, based on the HBO series. Lin was an executive producer on that title.
The Loss of Lin
After Lin’s passing, Yoozoo issued an emotional statement on its official Weibo microblog. “Goodbye youth,” it reads. “We will be together, continue to be kind, continue to believe in goodness, and continue the fight against all that is bad.”
The post was flooded with condolences and tributes to the late founder. Many of those messages contained calligraphy, a well-known passion of Lin’s. Our thoughts are with his loved ones in this difficult time.
“3 Body Problem” is currently streaming on Netflix.
