Walking the bustling corridors of Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most expansive and elaborate booths belong to household names – Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the like. This year, however, a substantial portion of Halls 6 and 7 will be dominated by a company most attendees probably haven’t heard of: 4Divinity.
"It’s massive by any measure," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The firm is showcasing six titles in the private B2B zone, five of which will appear in the associated trailer showcases, and four will be displayed on the public showfloor across two separate stands. The larger of those stands occupies roughly 800 square metres.
4Divinity isn’t just expanding its physical presence; it’s also pulling out all the stops on spectacle. "We’ve hired one of the top booth‑construction firms at Gamescom," Doust explains.
"No expense has been spared." One of the highlighted experiences, the 1980s‑style RPG *Showa American Story*, features a full‑scale recreation of 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 draped with Japanese lanterns," Doust adds, "and a diner you can walk into to start playing.
It’s all about immersion." When Doust says no expense has been spared, he clarifies, "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 a high level. It reflects how seriously we’re taking the western market, something not every Chinese‑owned company does or knows how to do." The reason this relatively unknown publisher can afford such a splash is that 4Divinity is part of a larger Singapore‑based conglomerate, GCL Global Holdings, which also owns a variety of unrelated businesses, including an imitation‑diamond jewellery line.
GCL’s roots lie in a physical‑distribution operation called Epicsoft, a business that has been running for nearly two decades. Doust notes that while physical distribution remains a significant revenue stream – "as long as Sony continues to allow disc production" – the model is undeniably in decline.
"We recognise that if disc sales are the core of the group, we need a digital‑focused growth engine," he says. Enter 4Divinity, launched in 2022 initially as a co‑publisher helping western developers bring their games to Southeast Asia.
Doust admits that finding a western title that truly resonates in China is a tall order. "We succeeded with *Atomic Heart* – China was a huge market for that title – and then repeated the feat with *Stalker 2*. But those were outliers," he explains.
The company realised that isolated successes would not satisfy the growth expectations of a Nasdaq‑listed parent. "From a growth perspective we needed a truly global publishing model," Doust says. Consequently, 4Divinity began signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release.
The effort started before Doust arrived in late 2024, with a handful of smaller indies and the ambitious *Showa American Story* already in the pipeline. Since then the portfolio has ballooned to eight titles slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid expansion phase. All of the games 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 pursued by US‑based ProbablyMonsters. "Players today don’t want to invest 200 hours in a live‑service game, and they’re not willing to spend $80 on a single‑player title unless it’s exceptional.
A $40‑$50 price point for a solid, story‑driven experience hits the sweet spot," Doust observes. Developing such games is costly, however. "These projects typically require $5‑$20 million of development budget, whether they’re built in China or the West. To break even you need to sell roughly a million copies, which is increasingly difficult given discoverability challenges," he notes.
4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on new IP. "Everything you’ll see from us at Gamescom is brand‑new IP. Even in China, these titles are fresh, and they’re absolutely new to western audiences," Doust says. Larger publishers are reluctant to gamble on untested IPs, especially as development costs soar and AAA studios become franchise‑centric.
Only a handful of emerging Chinese studios are willing to take that risk. The turning point for 4Divinity, 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.
Because Game Science, the Chinese developer, lacked the infrastructure to do this themselves, 4Divinity stepped in from its Singapore base. 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 and formed console‑ready studios.
Doust explains that the game’s development cost was roughly 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million), yet it sold 30 million copies, delivering a massive profit margin. "Development costs are far lower in China, and Chinese gamers are very price‑sensitive," Doust says. This economic reality shapes 4Divinity’s strategy: leverage inexpensive, high‑quality Chinese development talent to produce affordable, single‑player experiences that meet western demand.
He believes there is a “massive drought of supply” for such games, as major publishers have retreated from this space for financial reasons. His mission is to bridge western appetite for fresh, reasonably priced experiences with Chinese developers’ capacity to deliver them.
"When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked: what common themes link East and West? Loyalty, trust, defiance, revenge – those are universal. We market the same game with different messaging tailored to each region," Doust explains.
He argues that no one has yet mastered this cross‑cultural marketing. Doust describes the default approach of many publishers as a “do‑nothing” business: market the game in China, let a ripple effect reach the West, and accept an 80/20 sales split (80 % China, 20 % elsewhere). *Wukong* followed that pattern, selling 20 million copies in China and three‑four million abroad.
4Divinity aims to shift that ratio to 60/40, which would dramatically increase total unit sales. "If we could apply that model to a game of similar scale, we might end up with the best‑selling game of all time, relative to its development cost," he muses. The company is already testing the reverse flow – from West to East. Its sole non‑Chinese title, *Guns Of Eschaton*, was developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee.
After announcing the game, 4Divinity immediately showcased it at Bilibili World in Shanghai, an early‑stage marketing move unheard of for western studios. The result: China became the second‑largest wishlist market for the title, behind the United States. Thus, the colossal Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑direction strategy.
4Divinity’s games will hit Cologne shortly after a ChinaJoy showcase in Shanghai, allowing simultaneous exposure in both markets rather than a staggered rollout. Doust sees Gamescom not just as a platform for individual titles but as a grand introduction of the publisher itself to the western audience.
"We could run separate campaigns for each game, and we do to some extent, but Gamescom lets us bundle everything into one high‑impact event. Since we haven’t done much in the West yet, this is our chance to make some noise," he concludes.