Chinese authorities have executed a man convicted of poisoning billionaire gaming tycoon Lin Qi over a professional dispute linked to the Netflix adaptation of the science-fiction trilogy The Three-Body Problem, local media reported Tuesday.
Xu Yao was found guilty of killing Lin, founder of Shanghai-based gaming company Yoozoo Games, which holds the film adaptation rights for the blockbuster trilogy by Chinese author Liu Cixin.
The trilogy, translated into more than 40 languages, inspired multiple television and gaming adaptations, including 3 Body Problem released by Netflix in 2024.
Xu, a former head of a Yoozoo Games subsidiary, poisoned Lin in 2020 after allegedly being sidelined by the founder shortly after helping secure the Netflix deal.
Xu was convicted in 2024. Shanghai-based business magazine Yicai Global and other local media outlets reported that he was executed on May 21.
Lin’s company confirmed the execution in a statement posted Tuesday on the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
“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 added.
Yoozoo Games did not immediately respond Wednesday to requests for additional comment. The Shanghai High People’s Court also did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
According to local media reports, Xu spent hundreds of thousands of yuan purchasing highly toxic substances online, including alpha-amanitin, a deadly compound found in certain poisonous mushrooms.
Investigators said he disguised the poisons as probiotic pills and also placed them in coffee capsules, water containers and whiskey bottles that were shared with Lin and other employees.
Lin was hospitalised in December 2020 and died days later at the age of 39. Several other employees also fell ill but later recovered.
The Three-Body Problem series has enjoyed major success both in China and internationally. Liu became the first Chinese writer to win the prestigious Hugo Award, one of science fiction’s highest honours.
In China, the trilogy helped fuel the expansion of a domestic science-fiction industry spanning films, video games, books, magazines and exhibitions.