Strolling through Gamescom, the massive, eye‑catching booths are usually attached to household names – Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the like. This year, however, a sizable portion of Halls 6 and 7 is occupied by a company most attendees will not recognize: 4Divinity. "By any measure, it’s huge," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom deployment. The firm is presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will appear in the associated trailer showcases, and four will be displayed on the public floor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands covers roughly 800 square metres. 4Divinity is not only expanding its physical footprint; it is also pulling out all the stops in terms of spectacle. "We hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and left no stone unturned," Doust adds. One of the most striking displays belongs to the 80s‑style pop‑culture RPG *Showa American Story*.
The set recreates a version of the Hollywood Hills that, in the game’s alternate timeline, has been renamed Neo Yokohama Hills after a Japan‑ruled United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge fitted with Japanese lanterns, and a fully stocked diner that visitors can walk into and start playing. It’s all very immersive," he explains.
When Doust says no expense was spared, he means it. "I can’t give exact numbers – that would be crass – but we’re talking millions of dollars of investment. The sheer size of our footprint should make it clear we’re playing at that level.
It reflects how seriously we take the Western market, something not every Chinese‑origin company is prepared to do," he says. The reason you may not have heard of a firm capable of such spending is that 4Divinity is just one brand under the umbrella of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business. GCL’s roots lie in a physical‑distribution operation called Epicsoft, which has been in business for nearly two decades. "Physical distribution is still a part of our group’s revenue, and we’ll keep it as long as Sony continues to produce discs," Doust notes, acknowledging the sector’s decline and the need to pivot toward digital.
That pivot gave rise to 4Divinity, launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring games to Southeast Asia. Doust admits that finding a Western title that performs well in China is a tall order. "We succeeded with *Atomic Heart* – China was a massive market for it – and repeated the feat with *Stalker 2*. Those were exceptions rather than the rule," he says.
For a Nasdaq‑listed company like GCL, a modest co‑publishing operation could not sustain the growth expectations of shareholders. "From a growth standpoint, we needed a truly global publishing model," Doust explains.
Consequently, 4Divinity began signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. The effort started before Doust joined in late 2024, with a handful of indie titles and the ambitious *Showa American Story*.
Since then the portfolio has swelled to eight games slated for release over the next two years, marking a period of rapid expansion. All of the titles share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences lasting 15‑20 hours, priced in the mid‑tier range.
This focus was not pre‑planned but emerged as a coherent strategy aimed at the “squeezed middle” of the market – a segment also being targeted by US‑based ProbablyMonsters. "Players today don’t want to commit 200 hours to a live‑service game, nor can they afford $80 blockbusters.
They’re willing to spend $40‑50 on a well‑crafted single‑player adventure," Doust says. Developing such games is costly, regardless of geography.
"These projects run between $5 million and $20 million. To break even you need roughly a million copies sold, which is a steep hurdle given today’s discoverability challenges," he observes.
4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on new intellectual property. "Everything you’ll see at Gamescom is brand‑new IP.
Even in China, these are fresh titles, and in the West they’re completely unknown," Doust points out. Larger publishers are reluctant to gamble on untested IP, especially as AAA development has become risk‑averse and franchise‑driven. Only a few emerging Chinese studios are willing to take that leap. The turning point for 4Divinity was the distribution of *Black Myth: Wukong*.
GCL handled the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan. Because the developer, Game Science, is based in China, it lacked the infrastructure to manage global logistics, creating an opening for 4Divinity. *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. Doust explains that *Black Myth* was among the first wave, and now a growing number of Chinese studios are producing high‑quality games at a fraction of Western development costs.
Tax filings suggest *Wukong* cost around 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to develop, yet it has sold roughly 30 million copies, delivering a massive profit margin. "Development is far cheaper in China, and Chinese gamers are very price‑sensitive," Doust says. This reality shaped 4Divinity’s regional strategy and reinforced the belief that, while major Western publishers have retreated from mid‑budget titles for financial reasons, player appetite for such experiences remains strong. "There’s a huge supply gap," he notes.
Doust’s mission is to bridge Western demand for affordable, stand‑alone experiences with the supply that Chinese developers can provide efficiently. "My thesis, when I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, was ‘what if we could find common themes between East and West?’ It’s not as hard as it sounds – ideas like loyalty, revenge, defiance resonate everywhere. We market the same game with different cultural lenses to connect with each audience," he explains. Even without an active cross‑border push, games tend to travel.
Doust calls this the company’s “do‑nothing” business: they market a title in China, a ripple effect occurs in the West, and sales typically split roughly 80/20 in favour of China. *Wukong* sold about 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million elsewhere, illustrating the pattern. Doust believes that by actively promoting both directions, the split could shift to a more balanced 60/40, dramatically increasing overall sales.
The publisher is already testing this two‑way flow. Its only non‑Chinese title at the moment, *Guns Of Eschaton*, was developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. The first marketing move was to showcase the game at Bilibili World, Shanghai’s massive anime and pop‑culture expo – a step no Western publisher usually takes so early in a campaign.
The result was a surge of interest, making China the second‑largest wishlist market for the game after the United States. 4Divinity’s massive Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market strategy.
The company is rolling out its titles in Cologne shortly after debuting them at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, aiming to create simultaneous momentum rather than waiting for a Chinese hit to trickle westward. "Gamescom is our western coming‑out party," Doust says. "We could run separate campaigns for each game, but this event lets us consolidate everything into one high‑impact showcase.
Since we haven’t done much in the West yet, it’s an opportunity to make some noise. If this is a portfolio push for 4Divinity, why not go big?"