Netflix Sci-Fi Producer, Yoozoo Games CEO Lin Qi Dead at 39 after Alleged Poisoning by Colleague
On Dec. 25, Lin Qi, CEO of Chinese digital game company Yoozoo and co-producer of Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of The Three-Body Problem, passed away at the age of 39 after a suspected poisoning.
In a Weibo post Yoozoo sent out Friday, the firm expressed the highest gratitude and deep mourning for Lin. The post wrote: “Farewell, young man. You saw through what was imperfect but still believed in perfection; encountered unkindness but still believed in kindness. We will unite together and continue to be kind, to believe in beauty, and to fight against unkindness.”
Lin was a “boy” who ruminated over philosophical questions all day. In an interview with LatePost, Lin said he had been thinking about ways to say goodbye to the world when he is 90. “I heard people will have an epiphany when they are about to die and I was wondering how I would say farewell to this beloved world,” Lin said.
Unfortunately, Lin was in a severe coma for the last ten days of his life and he may not have had his epiphany.
Lin was a dear friend to many people: friends, colleagues, and even competitors. As Wang Xing, CEO of Meituan, China’s food delivery platform, recalled, Lin was an energetic man. Wu Shu, founder of Potential Capital, who also went to the same university as Lin, said he was generous and passionate about everything. Many who work in the internet industry told local media that they received skiing invitations from Lin this month.
“Lin does not care about the fierce competition in the gaming industry, but he cares about how to bring about revolutions in the industry, ” said Wu Xiankun, founder of RCT studio, a business partner of Yoozoo.
The Christmas vibe did not make the night Lin passed away any easier. At midnight on Saturday, piles of white flowers and candles were left outside the company’s entrance in remembrance. During the first week when Lin was hospitalized, many of Lin’s close friends visited him. The doctor told them the worst case would be living in a permanent vegetative state, and nobody expected everything to turn upside down on Christmas night.
Even though the firm refused to admit that a work-dispute led to the intentional poisoning, many local Chinese reports had speculated Xu Yao, the CEO of the Three-Body Problem Universe, committed the crime. Having graduated from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor’s Law School, Xu Yao always impressed people with his “elite-style” look. A previous Yoozoo worker told a local publication that Xu loves reading novels about poison chemists. Some local publications say Xu had bought hundreds of toxic chemicals online and had slowly been poisoning Lin for a year.
“No dispute should come at the cost of a life,” said Linqi’s friends.
Known abroad for developing the game “Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming” based on Benioff and Weiss’s HBO series, Yoozoo is on the rise. The firm’s globalization blueprint is yet to begin. Though the death of Lin is tragic yet heartbreaking in the industry, justice will be served.
Authorities are still investigating the case, with Xu as the primary suspect.
