Walking 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 sizable portion of Halls 6 and 7 is occupied by a company many attendees may not recognize: 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 them in the adjoining trailer showcases, and four on the public show floor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands covers roughly 800 square metres. But the ambition extends beyond sheer size; Doust emphasizes that the company has hired one of Gamescom’s premier booth builders and spared no expense in the construction.
One of the most striking displays is for the 1980s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. The set recreates the Hollywood Hills – renamed Neo‑Yokohama Hills in the game’s alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States.
"We built a seven‑metre‑high Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a fully stocked diner that visitors can walk through while trying the game. It’s all about immersion," Doust explains.
When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to give an exact figure, calling it "crass" to do so, but confirms that the investment runs into the millions. "That level of spending shows how seriously we’re taking the Western market – something not every Chinese‑based publisher is prepared to do or even knows how to execute," he adds. The reason many have never heard of 4Divinity lies in its corporate lineage. It is one of several gaming entities owned by Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also runs an imitation‑diamond jewellery business.
GCL’s roots are in physical game distribution through a company called Epicsoft, a business that has operated for almost two decades. While physical media remain a part of the group’s revenue – "as long as Sony continues to produce discs," Doust notes – the market is clearly in decline, prompting a shift toward digital‑first strategies. 4Divinity was launched in 2022 initially as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring titles to Southeast Asia.
Doust cites the success of *Atomic Heart* in China and later *Stalker 2* as proof that a Western game can thrive in the Chinese market, but he also acknowledges those successes were exceptions rather than the rule. "We needed a growth engine that could scale globally," he says, pointing to the decision to start signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release.
The portfolio has expanded rapidly. Before Doust joined in late 2024, the company had already secured a handful of smaller indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*.
Today the slate includes eight games slated for launch over the next two years, marking a period of intense expansion. A common thread runs through the lineup: all titles are primarily single‑player experiences, lasting roughly 15–20 hours, and priced in the mid‑tier range. This focus on the "squeezed middle" – a segment that sits between low‑budget indie releases and high‑budget AAA blockbusters – mirrors the strategy of U.S. studio ProbablyMonsters.
Doust believes this is exactly what many gamers are craving today. "People don’t have the time or desire to invest 200 hours in a live‑service game. An $80 AAA title is reserved for a few marquee franchises, but a $40‑$50 single‑player adventure is an attractive proposition for a large audience," he says.
Developing games in this AA space typically costs between $5 million and $20 million. Whether produced in China or the West, those budgets demand sales of roughly one million copies just to break even – a daunting target given today’s discoverability challenges.
4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its commitment to new IP. Every title on display at Gamescom is a brand‑new property, many of which are debut releases in both China and the West.
Larger publishers are increasingly risk‑averse, preferring to lean on established franchises rather than gamble on fresh concepts, especially as development costs soar. The turning point for the company, according to Doust, was the handling of *Black Myth: Wukong*. GCL oversaw the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan, leveraging its Singapore base to bridge the gap for the Chinese developer Game Science. The success of *Wukong* highlighted a broader opportunity: since China lifted its console ban in 2016, a wave of Chinese studios has emerged, many of which are now creating console‑ready titles at a fraction of Western development costs.
Tax filings suggest *Wukong* cost around 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to produce, yet it sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit margin. Doust points out that Chinese developers benefit from lower labor costs and a price‑sensitive domestic audience, which shapes 4Divinity’s regional strategy. He argues that while many major publishers have retreated from funding mid‑budget single‑player games for financial reasons, consumer appetite for such experiences remains strong, creating a "massive drought of supply." His mission is to match Western demand for affordable, self‑contained experiences with the supply chain that Chinese studios can provide.
"When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked, ‘What if we can find common themes between East and West?’ Themes like loyalty, revenge, and defiance resonate everywhere. We market the same game with different cultural lenses, something I think no one has done effectively yet." Even without a concerted cross‑border push, games tend to travel. Doust describes this as the company’s "do‑nothing" business model: they market primarily in China, and a ripple effect generates sales abroad, typically in an 80/20 split. *Wukong* exemplified this, selling 20 million copies in China and three to four million elsewhere.
The goal now is to shift that balance to a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase unit sales and potentially position a title as one of the best‑selling games of all time relative to its development budget. To illustrate the bidirectional strategy, Doust cites the only non‑Chinese title in the portfolio, *Guns of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment in Cyprus. The marketing campaign launched in China first, with an early appearance at Bilibili World in Shanghai – a move no Western publisher typically makes at that stage. The early buzz propelled China to become the second‑largest wishlist market for the game, trailing only the United States.
The massive Gamescom presence, therefore, mirrors this dual‑market approach. 4Divinity’s games will appear in Cologne shortly after a showcase at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, allowing the titles to gain traction simultaneously in both regions rather than playing catch‑up after a Chinese success. Gamescom serves as the Western debut party, consolidating multiple game launches into one high‑visibility event. "If we’re using Gamescom to introduce our portfolio to the West, why not go big?" Doust concludes.