Lin Qi (entrepreneur)

Lin Qi (name often styled in the media as Lynch) (1981–2020) was a Chinese entrepreneur who founded Yoozoo Games.

Early life
Born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang in 1981, to parents who were both involved in traditional manufacturing, Lin Qi developed a fondness for video games at an early age. After graduating from high school, he pursued studies in computer information management at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, graduating in 2004. After graduating, he worked as a software engineer for Zhejiang's China Telecom, and left in 2007, to become a partner in an online advertising agency.

Yoozoo
In June 2009, he founded Yoozoo, focused on the creation and production of video games. The business experienced rapid expansion, establishing subsidiaries and affiliates, including Youzoo Interactive founded in 2015, and diversifying into fields such as television and film production.

In 2019, Yoozoo Games developed and published Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming, a multi-player online game, based on the eponymous HBO hit television series, which became itself a hit.

Soon after, Lin Qi was involved in the production of the Netflix science fiction series The 3 Body Problem, which is based on computer engineer and author Liu Cixin's award-winning Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy series of books.

According to the Hurun Report, Lin Qi had assets worth between 4.5 and 6.8 billion yuan, or, in 2024, between approximately $575 and $635 million.

Death
On 16 December 2020, Lin Qi reportedly felt unwell after getting off work. He sought medical treatment on his own but the next day went to a hospital. The hospital, after doctors determined that the patient had been poisoned, contacted the police who began an investigation. Executive producer of the 3 Body Problem Zhao Jilong and his wife were also poisoned but survived.

On 25 December 2020, Lin Qi died.

The police eventually arrested Xu Yao, a former Yoozoo Games executive, who was indicted for murder, tried, and, in 2024, found guilty and sentenced to death. His motive was a "dispute over running the business", according to the court's decision, while other sources assign it to Xu Yao getting a pay cut and being demoted on account of "poor work performance".