Walking through Gamescom, the massive booths you encounter are usually tied to household names—Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the like. This year, however, a sizable portion of Halls 6 and 7 is dominated by a company most visitors will not recognize: 4Divinity. "It’s huge 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 which will appear in dedicated trailer showcases, while four games will be displayed on the public floor across two separate stands. The larger of those stands covers roughly 800 square metres.
4Divinity isn’t just betting on size; it is also pulling out all the stops on spectacle. "We’re working with one of the best booth builders at Gamescom," Doust notes. "No expense has been spared." One of the highlights is the set for the 80s‑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. "We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns," Doust explains. "There’s also a recreated diner that visitors can walk into to try the game. It’s a fully immersive experience." When asked about the cost, Doust declines to give a precise figure, calling it "crass" to disclose exact numbers, but confirms that the investment runs into the millions.
"The scale of our footprint alone shows we are committing resources at that level. It reflects how seriously we are taking the Western market—something not every Chinese‑owned company does or knows how to do." The reason this publisher can afford such a splash is that 4Divinity is part of a larger Singapore‑based conglomerate, GCL Global Holdings, which also owns a faux‑diamond jewellery line and a long‑standing physical‑distribution business called Epicsoft. Epicsoft has been moving physical game discs for nearly two decades, a model that is now under pressure after recent announcements from Sony about the future of disc‑based releases.
"Physical distribution remains a significant part of our group’s revenue, and we’ll continue as long as Sony supports it," Doust says, "but we recognize it’s a declining segment, so we needed a digital‑focused growth engine." Enter 4Divinity. Launched in 2022, the company originally acted as a co‑publisher for Western developers seeking entry into Southeast Asia. Doust cites the success of *Atomic Heart*—which performed strongly in China—as an early proof point, followed by *Stalker 2*. However, those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth path.
"From a Nasdaq‑listed perspective, we needed a global publishing model that could scale," Doust explains. The shift meant signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the portfolio already included a handful of indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*.
Today, the slate has grown to eight games slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid expansion period. All of the titles share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences, run 15–20 hours, and sit in the mid‑tier price band. This focus on the “squeezed middle” of the market mirrors strategies employed by companies such as ProbablyMonsters in the United States.
"Players today don’t have the time or desire to invest 200 hours in a live‑service game," Doust says. "An $80 AAA title is reserved for a few blockbusters, but there’s a willingness to spend $40‑50 on a well‑crafted single‑player adventure." Developing a game in this AA tier typically costs between $5 million and $20 million, regardless of geography.
Doust notes that to break even, a title must sell roughly a million copies—a challenging target given today’s discoverability hurdles. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on new IP. Every game shown at Gamescom is a brand‑new property, both for Chinese and Western audiences. Larger publishers are increasingly risk‑averse, preferring to lean on established franchises because development costs have skyrocketed.
"AAA has become a franchise business; without an existing series, it’s hard to get funding," Doust observes, adding that a few emerging Chinese studios are exceptions. The turning point for the company, 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, leveraging its Singapore base to bridge the gap for Game Science, a Chinese developer lacking global distribution channels.
The success of *Wukong* highlighted a broader opportunity: since China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese studios have returned home to create console and PC titles. Doust points out that development costs in China are markedly lower; a tax filing suggests *Wukong* cost just over 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) yet sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit. Chinese developers also benefit from a price‑sensitive market, which influences 4Divinity’s regional strategy.
Doust believes that while major Western publishers have retreated from this segment for financial reasons, player appetite for affordable, narrative‑driven experiences remains strong, creating a “massive drought of supply.” His mission is to match Western demand for fresh, reasonably priced experiences with the supply that Chinese creators can efficiently produce. "When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked whether we could find common thematic ground between East and West. Themes like loyalty, revenge, and defiance are universal; we market the same asset with different cultural lenses to resonate in each region," Doust explains, claiming this cross‑cultural positioning is largely untapped. Even without an aggressive marketing push, games tend to cross borders.
Doust refers to this as the “do‑nothing” model: the publisher markets primarily in China, and a ripple effect generates sales abroad, typically an 80/20 split. *Wukong* exemplified this, selling 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million elsewhere. Doust hopes to shift the ratio toward a 60/40 balance, which would dramatically increase unit sales and potentially elevate a title to best‑selling status relative to its modest development budget.
The company is also experimenting in the opposite direction. Its sole non‑Chinese title, *Guns of Eschaton*, was developed by a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. After announcing the game, 4Divinity took it to Bilibili World, a massive anime and pop‑culture convention in Shanghai—an early‑stage move no Western publisher typically makes.
The resulting buzz propelled China to become the second‑largest wishlist market for the game after the United States. Thus, the massive Gamescom presence is a physical manifestation of this dual‑market strategy.
The games will appear in Cologne shortly after a showcase at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, allowing simultaneous exposure rather than a staggered, China‑first rollout. Doust sees Gamescom as a “coming‑out party” for the publisher in the West, consolidating multiple campaigns into one high‑impact event. "If we’re using Gamescom to introduce our portfolio and ourselves to Western audiences, why not go big?" he concludes.