Strolling through Gamescom, the colossal booths that dominate the exhibition floor are usually attached to household names—Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the like. This year, however, a sizeable portion of Halls 6 and 7 will be occupied by a company most attendees probably haven’t heard of: 4Divinity. “It’s massive by any measure,” says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The firm will present six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will appear in the adjoining trailer showcases, and four will be displayed on the public floor across two separate stands, the larger of which spans roughly 800 square metres.
The ambition goes beyond sheer size; Doust emphasizes that the company has spared no expense on the visual spectacle. “We’ve hired one of the top booth‑construction firms at Gamescom, and we haven’t cut corners on any aspect of the build,” he explains. One of the most eye‑catching installations will be for the 1980s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. The set recreates a Hollywood‑Hills‑style landscape that, in the game’s alternate timeline, has been renamed Neo‑Yokohama Hills, a place where Japan governs the United States.
“We’ve built a seven‑metre‑high replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, draped with Japanese lanterns,” Doust says. “There’s also a diner that visitors can walk into to try the game. It’s all about creating an immersive, hands‑on experience.” When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to reveal exact numbers, calling it “crass” to do so, but he confirms that the investment runs into the millions of dollars.
“The scale of our footprint alone shows we’re committing resources at that level. It reflects how seriously we’re taking the Western market—something not every Chinese‑based publisher is prepared to do.” The reason this relatively unknown firm can afford such a lavish presence lies in its corporate backing. 4Divinity is part of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business. GCL’s origins trace back to a physical‑distribution operation called Epicsoft, which has been in business for nearly two decades.
While physical media remains a component of the group’s revenue—“as long as Sony continues to produce discs, we’ll keep the business alive”—Doust acknowledges that the sector is in decline, prompting a strategic pivot toward digital publishing. 4Divinity itself launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring titles to Southeast Asia. Doust points out that finding a Western game that resonates strongly in China is a rare feat.
The company succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which performed exceptionally well in the Chinese market, and later replicated that success with *Stalker 2*. However, those wins were outliers rather than a sustainable growth model for a Nasdaq‑listed parent company.
“From a growth perspective, we needed a truly global publishing strategy,” Doust says. The shift involved signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release.
Even before Doust joined in late 2024, the firm had secured a handful of titles, including a few indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*. Today the portfolio has expanded to eight games slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid growth phase.
All of the titles share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences, each offering roughly 15‑20 hours of gameplay and priced in the mid‑tier range. This focus was not pre‑planned but emerged organically as the company honed its strategy. It mirrors a broader industry trend where publishers target the “squeezed middle” of the market—a niche pursued by other firms such as the US‑based ProbablyMonsters.
Doust believes this segment captures current player sentiment: “People don’t want to invest 200 hours into a live‑service game. The $80 AAA titles are reserved for a few blockbuster franchises, but there’s a willingness to spend $40‑$50 on a well‑crafted single‑player adventure.” Developing these AA‑level games typically costs between $5 million and $20 million, regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West. Doust notes that to break even, a title must sell around a million copies—a challenging target given today’s discoverability hurdles.
What sets 4Divinity apart is its commitment to new intellectual property. Every game on display at Gamescom is a fresh IP, many of which are debut releases even in China. Larger publishers are increasingly risk‑averse, focusing on established franchises rather than betting on multiple new properties.
“AAA has become a franchise business. If you don’t already own a franchise, you’re generally out of the game, except for a few emerging Chinese studios,” Doust observes. The turning point for 4Divinity’s global ambitions, according to Doust, was the handling of *Black Myth: Wukong*.
GCL managed the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan. Because the developer, Game Science, is Chinese, it lacked the infrastructure to handle global logistics, and 4Divinity filled that gap from its Singapore base. *Wukong*’s triumph highlighted a broader opportunity.
Since China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad returned home and formed console‑focused studios. *Black Myth* was among the first to break out, and the market has since produced a steady stream of promising titles. Doust explains that development costs in China are considerably lower; tax filings suggest *Wukong* cost about 300 million yuan (roughly $44.6 million) to produce, yet it sold 30 million copies, generating a substantial profit. Chinese gamers are also highly price‑sensitive, which shapes 4Divinity’s regional strategy.
The publisher aims to bridge Western demand for affordable, high‑quality experiences with Chinese developers’ ability to deliver them cost‑effectively. Doust’s personal thesis, formed while working with GCL chairman Jacky Choo, is to find universal themes—loyalty, trust, defiance, revenge—that resonate across cultures, then tailor marketing messages to each market while using the same creative assets. In practice, this approach can be described as a “do‑nothing” business model: 4Divinity markets a game primarily in China, and a secondary ripple effect generates sales in the West. *Wukong* exemplified this pattern, selling about 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million elsewhere, an 80/20 split.
Doust hopes to improve that ratio to 60/40 by actively promoting titles in both directions, likening the effort to a modern Silk Road. The company’s sole non‑Chinese title at present is *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment—a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former World of Tanks employee. To launch the game, 4Divinity first showcased it at Bilibili World, a massive anime and pop‑culture convention in Shanghai, a move rarely seen from Western publishers at such an early stage.
The early exposure propelled China to become the second‑largest wishlist market for the title, trailing only the United States. Thus, the expansive Gamescom exhibition is a direct reflection of this dual‑market strategy. The games will appear in Cologne shortly after a ChinaJoy debut in Shanghai, allowing 4Divinity to generate simultaneous buzz in both territories rather than playing catch‑up after a title has already peaked in one market.
While the company could run isolated campaigns for each game, Gamescom offers a consolidated platform to introduce the entire portfolio and the brand itself to Western audiences. As Doust puts it, “If we’re using Gamescom to launch a 4Divinity portfolio, why not go big?”