Strolling through the bustling corridors of 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 sizable 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 standard," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The firm is presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of those featured in dedicated trailer showcases, and four games on the public floor across two separate stands.
The larger of the two public spaces covers roughly 800 square metres. Doust emphasizes that the ambition extends beyond sheer size; the company has hired one of Gamescom’s premier booth builders and spared no expense in the design. One of the highlighted experiences is the 1980s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. Its showcase recreates a Hollywood‑hills‑type landscape that the game re‑imagines as “Neo Yokohama Hills,” an alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States.
"We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a fully stocked diner that visitors can walk into to try the game," Doust explains. The entire setup is meant to be immersive, encouraging attendees to step inside the world rather than simply watch a trailer. When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to give an exact figure, calling it “crass,” but confirms that the investment runs into the millions. "The scale of our footprint alone shows we’re committing resources at that level.
It signals how seriously we’re taking the Western market—something not all Chinese‑owned companies are prepared to do." The reason many have never heard of 4Divinity is that it operates under the broader umbrella of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business. GCL’s roots lie in physical game distribution through a company called Epicsoft, a business that has existed for nearly two decades. While disc‑based distribution remains a part of the group’s revenue—"as long as Sony continues to manufacture discs, we’ll keep supporting it"—the model is clearly in decline, prompting GCL to seek digital‑centric growth. 4Divinity was 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 in China is exceptionally difficult. The publisher succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which performed strongly in the Chinese market, and later with *Stalker 2*. However, those successes were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine. "From a Nasdaq‑listed perspective, we needed a global publishing model that could deliver consistent expansion," 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 handful of titles, including a few indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*.
Today the portfolio has swelled to eight games slated for release over the next two years, marking a rapid growth phase. All of the announced titles share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences lasting 15‑20 hours, positioned at a mid‑tier price point.
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 preferences: "Most gamers don’t have the time to invest 200 hours into a live‑service game, and $80‑plus 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 games in this AA bracket typically costs between $5 million and $20 million. Whether produced in China or the West, recouping those costs requires selling roughly a million copies—a daunting target given today’s discoverability challenges.
Doust notes that many publishers shy away from this space because the financial risk is high and the market is crowded. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its commitment to new intellectual property. "Everything you’ll see from us at Gamescom is brand‑new IP," Doust says. In China, these titles are fresh to gamers, and they are equally unknown in the West.
Larger studios tend to gamble on established franchises rather than multiple new IPs, especially as development budgets soar and AAA studios become increasingly risk‑averse, focusing on franchise extensions rather than original concepts. The pivotal moment for 4Divinity’s strategic shift 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 a Chinese studio, it lacked the infrastructure to navigate global logistics, allowing 4Divinity to step in from its Singapore base. *Wukong*’s triumph illustrated the untapped potential of Chinese developers now able to target consoles after the 2016 ban lift.
Many studios that had been creating PC or mobile titles for Western markets returned home, forming new console‑ready teams. *Wukong* reportedly cost around 300 million yuan (approximately $44.6 million) to develop and sold 30 million copies, generating a substantial profit margin.
Doust highlights that production costs in China are markedly lower and that Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive. This economic reality shapes 4Divinity’s strategy: leverage cost‑effective development while offering affordable pricing to Western audiences. He argues that while major publishers have retreated from this niche due to financial concerns, consumer appetite for concise, story‑driven games remains strong, creating a “massive drought of supply.” His mission is to bridge Western demand for fresh, reasonably priced experiences with the supply chain that Chinese developers can provide.
"When I started working with Jacky Choo, the GCL chairman, I asked whether we could find thematic common ground between East and West. Themes like loyalty, revenge, and defiance resonate universally.
We market the same game with different cultural lenses, something I think few have done successfully." Even without an aggressive marketing push, games tend to cross borders organically. Doust calls this the company’s "do‑nothing" model: they focus marketing efforts in China, which creates a ripple effect abroad, typically resulting in an 80/20 sales split (80 % in China, 20 % elsewhere). *Wukong* followed this pattern, selling about 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million internationally. 4Divinity aims to shift that balance toward a 60/40 split, believing that a more even distribution would dramatically increase total unit sales.
Doust muses that if *Wukong* had achieved such a ratio, it could have become the best‑selling game of all time relative to its development budget. The company envisions a two‑way cultural exchange—"East to West, West to East, like a modern Silk Road." Currently, its only non‑Chinese‑origin title is *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. The marketing campaign for this game began in China, debuting at Bilibili World, a massive anime and pop‑culture expo in Shanghai.
This early push generated significant buzz, making China the second‑largest wishlist market after the United States. The colossal Gamescom presence is essentially a live extension of that cross‑market strategy.
By showcasing its lineup in Cologne shortly after a ChinaJoy appearance in Shanghai, 4Divinity seeks to synchronize momentum in both regions rather than playing catch‑up after a title has already peaked in one market. Beyond individual game promotion, Gamescom serves as the publisher’s grand introduction to Western audiences. "We could run separate campaigns for each title, and we do to an extent, but Gamescom lets us consolidate everything into one high‑impact event," Doust says.
"Given that we haven’t done much in the West yet, this is our chance to make some noise. If this is a portfolio‑wide push, why not go big?"