(Yicai Global) Nov. 5 -- The actual controller of Youzu Interactive may change as the three children of Lin Qi, the late founder of the Chinese game developer, have now been sued by Hongta Securities due to CNY267 million (USD41.7 million) worth of pledged equity.

Lin Xiaoxi, Lin Ruijing, and Lin Li have not repaid the CNY230 million of loans plus the accrued interest that they inherited after their father passed away so Hongta Securities filed a lawsuit against them last month, the Kunming-headquartered brokerage said in a statement on Nov. 3. The three minors' mother Xu Fenfen is their legal representative.

Lin Qi, who died at the age of 39 last December due to suspected poisoning, had pledged 35.4 million Youzu shares, or nearly a 3.9-percent of the total, to secure loans. The money should have been repaid by Oct. 14.

Xu is planning to transfer the stake to clear her three children's debts, which will probably lead to a change of the company’s actual controller, the Shanghai-based game developer and publisher said in a statement earlier. But she hasn't yet reached an agreement with a potential buyer, it added. The father's total stake in the firm was worth as much as CNY3 billion (USD468.6 million) based on the company's stock price in January.

The maker of Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming role-playing game has been having a tough year after the founder's sudden demise. In the first three quarters of this year, the company's net profit slumped by nearly 37 percent to CNY354 million (USD55.3 million) from a year ago. Its revenue dropped by more than 32 percent to CNY2.5 billion.

Lin Qi established Youzu in 2009. Besides game development, the firm is involved in Big Data technologies, intellectual property management, and entertainment investment.

Shares of Hongta Securities [SHA: 601236] declined by 0.2 percent to CNY11.25 (USD1.80) in the afternoon.

Youzu's stock price [SHE: 002174] rose 2.7 percent to CNY13.88.

Editors: Emmi Laine, Xu Wei, Xiao Yi