Chinese authorities executed former gaming executive Xu Yao on May 21, 2026, for the 2020 murder of billionaire Yoozoo Games founder Lin Qi.
Xu poisoned Lin following a corporate dispute in Shanghai.
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The execution came after a 2024 conviction by a Chinese court, which described the murder plot as extremely despicable and heinous.
Xu disguised lethal substances, including toxic mercury, as probiotic pills to assassinate his boss.
Dispute Over Netflix Deal
The fatal dispute arose in 2020 when Lin sidelined Xu from managing Three-Body Universe, a subsidiary handling film adaptation rights for the science fiction trilogy Remembrance of Earth's Past.
Xu had helped secure a major production deal with Netflix for the series.
Lin, who founded the Shanghai-based developer known for the Game of Thrones: Winter Is Coming strategy game, fell ill in December 2020 and died nine days later on Christmas Day at age 39.
His estimated net worth was 6.8 billion yuan.
The murder shocked the global gaming industry and occurred just as Netflix acquired rights to produce the 3 Body Problem series, where Lin was posthumously credited as an executive producer alongside David Benioff and D.
B. Weiss.
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Lin's wife survived the poisoning attempt, but several other company employees became sick.
Police arrested Xu just days after the billionaire founder was initially hospitalized.
Following the execution, Yoozoo Games released an official statement.
"We deeply mourn Mr. Lin and extend our heartfelt condolences to his family," the company stated.
Yoozoo expressed appreciation for the legal outcome and the work of local authorities during the multi-year criminal proceedings.
"As colleagues who fought alongside him, all members of the company are grateful for the impartiality of the judicial process," the company said.
Company officials noted that the definitive penalty brought closure to the legal proceedings.
"Justice has ultimately been served," the company added.
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One of Xu's victims wrote on social media, "Justice comes in the end, even if it's late," as reported by the Chinese newspaper Economic Observer.
