Strolling through Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most expansive, eye‑catching booths belong to household names – Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft and the like. This year, however, a sizeable portion of Halls 6 and 7 is dominated by a brand that many attendees may not recognize: 4Divinity. "By any measure, it’s massive," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The company is presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will also appear in the associated trailer showcases, and four titles will be displayed on the public show floor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands covers roughly 800 square metres. But the scale isn’t limited to square footage – the spectacle is equally grand. "We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and left no stone unturned," Doust adds.
One of the most striking installations is for the 1980s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. The booth features a re‑imagined Hollywood Hills, renamed Neo‑Yokohama Hills in the game’s alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States. A seven‑metre‑tall replica of the Golden Gate Bridge is draped with Japanese lanterns, and a fully‑furnished diner invites visitors to step inside and play the game, creating an immersive, experiential environment. When Doust says no expense was spared, he clarifies, "I can’t quote exact numbers – that would be crass – but we’re talking millions of dollars of investment.
The sheer size of our footprint makes it clear we’re playing at that level. It reflects how seriously we’re taking the Western market, something not every Chinese‑based company chooses to do or even knows how to execute." The reason many have never heard of a firm capable of such spending is that 4Divinity is just one of several subsidiaries under Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns, among other things, an imitation‑diamond jewellery business. GCL’s roots lie in physical game distribution through Epicsoft, a business that has operated for almost two decades. While physical media remains a component of the group’s revenue – "as long as Sony continues to produce discs, we’ll keep supporting it" – Doust acknowledges that the sector is in decline, prompting a strategic pivot toward digital publishing.
4Divinity was launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring games to Southeast Asia. Doust explains that finding a Western title that resonates in China is exceptionally challenging. Their first success came with *Atomic Heart*, which performed strongly in the Chinese market, followed by *Stalker 2*. However, those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine for a Nasdaq‑listed company like GCL.
"From a growth standpoint, we needed a truly global publishing model," Doust says. Consequently, 4Divinity began signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the company already had a few indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story* in its pipeline. Today the portfolio has expanded to eight titles slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid growth phase.
All of the games share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences, typically 15‑20 hours long, and priced in the mid‑tier range. This focus on the “squeezed middle” of the market mirrors strategies employed by other publishers such as the US‑based ProbablyMonsters.
Doust believes this segment captures current player sentiment: "People don’t have 200 hours to invest in a live‑service game. The $80 blockbuster is reserved for a handful of titles, but there’s a willingness to spend $40‑$50 on a solid single‑player adventure." Developing a game in this AA bracket costs roughly $5‑$20 million, regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West. Adding marketing, localisation and other operating expenses means a title must sell about a million copies just to break even – a daunting target in today’s crowded marketplace where discoverability is a major hurdle. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its commitment to new intellectual property.
Every title on display at Gamescom is a fresh IP, many of which are debut releases in both China and the West. Larger publishers are increasingly risk‑averse, focusing on established franchises rather than betting on multiple new IPs.
Doust notes, "AAA has become a franchise business; unless you already own a franchise, you’re rarely given a chance, except perhaps by some emerging Chinese studios." The turning point for the publisher was the handling of *Black Myth: Wukong*. GCL managed the game’s global physical PS5 distribution and acted as the Taiwanese publisher. Because the developer, Game Science, is a Chinese studio, it lacked the infrastructure to coordinate worldwide logistics, allowing 4Divinity to step in from its Singapore hub.
The success of *Wukong* highlighted a broader opportunity: after China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad returned home, forming new console and PC studios. *Wukong* was among the first to break out, and its performance – over 30 million copies sold, with development costs estimated at roughly ¥300 million ($44.6 million) – demonstrated the profitability of high‑quality, cost‑effective Chinese development. Doust points out that production costs in China remain significantly lower than in the West, and Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive. This dynamic shapes 4Divinity’s strategy: leverage affordable development talent to create compelling experiences that can be marketed globally at reasonable price points.
He argues there is a “massive drought of supply” for such mid‑range, single‑player games, and 4Divinity aims to fill that gap. His overarching thesis is to bridge Western demand for fresh, affordable experiences with Chinese supply capabilities. "When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked: what if we could find universal themes that resonate across East and West?
Loyalty, trust, defiance, revenge – those are universal kernels. We can market the same game with different messaging tailored to each region, something I think no one has executed effectively yet." Even without an aggressive marketing push, games tend to cross borders organically. Doust calls this the company’s "do‑nothing" business model: they market primarily in China, and a ripple effect generates modest sales abroad, typically an 80/20 split.
*Wukong* sold about 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million elsewhere, exemplifying that ratio. The goal for 4Divinity is to shift the balance toward a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase unit sales and could potentially make a title one of the best‑selling games ever relative to its modest development budget. The publisher is pursuing this two‑way flow – east‑to‑west and west‑to‑east – like a modern Silk Road. Outside of China, its only current title is *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a new studio founded in Cyprus by a former Wargaming employee.
The marketing for that game began in China, with a debut at Bilibili World in Shanghai, an approach no Western publisher typically uses so early in a campaign. The early exposure made China the second‑largest wishlist market after the United States, indicating the strategy’s effectiveness.
Thus, the colossal Gamescom presence mirrors 4Divinity’s broader ambition. The company plans to showcase its games in Cologne shortly after a run at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, ensuring simultaneous exposure in both markets rather than waiting for a Chinese hit to trickle westward. Gamescom serves as the Western coming‑out party, allowing 4Divinity to consolidate multiple game launches into one high‑impact event.
As Doust puts it, "If we’re presenting an entire portfolio to the West, why not go big?"