Walking through Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most 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 most visitors probably haven’t heard of: 4Divinity. "It’s massive by any measure," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK operation, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The company is presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of them featured in the associated trailer showcases, and four games on the public show‑floor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands covers an impressive 800 square metres. Doust stresses that the scale isn’t limited to square footage; the visual spectacle is equally ambitious. "We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and left no stone unturned," he explains. One of the most striking displays is for the 1980s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*.
The set recreates the Hollywood Hills – rebranded as the Neo‑Yokohama Hills in the game’s alternate timeline where Japan rules the United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a fully functional diner that visitors can walk into to try the game.
It’s all about creating an immersive experience," Doust adds. When pressed about the cost, Doust refuses to give an exact figure, calling it "crass," but confirms that the investment runs into the millions.
"The size of our footprint alone shows we’re willing to spend at that level. It reflects how seriously we’re taking the Western market – something not every Chinese‑owned company is prepared to do." The reason this relatively unknown publisher can afford such a spend lies in its parent group, Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, which owns a range of businesses, including an imitation‑diamond jewellery line. GCL’s core business was built around physical game distribution through Epicsoft, a company with almost two decades of experience.
While physical distribution is declining – especially after recent announcements from Sony – it still represents a significant revenue stream for the group, and GCL plans to continue it as long as discs are produced. Recognising the need to diversify, GCL created 4Divinity in 2022 as a co‑publisher to help Western developers bring titles to Southeast Asia. Doust notes that finding a Western game that performs well in China is exceptionally difficult.
Their first big success was *Atomic Heart*, which sold strongly in China, followed by *Stalker 2*. However, those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine. As a Nasdaq‑listed company, GCL required a more scalable model. "From a growth perspective we needed global publishing," Doust says.
The strategy shifted to signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the pipeline already included a handful of smaller indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*. Since then the portfolio has expanded to eight games slated for release over the next two years, marking a rapid growth phase. All of the titles share common characteristics: they are primarily single‑player experiences lasting 15‑20 hours, priced in the mid‑tier range.
This focus on the "squeezed middle" of the market mirrors the approach of US studio ProbablyMonsters. Doust believes this segment captures current player preferences.
"People don’t have time for 200‑hour live‑service games. The $80 AAA 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 such games is costly – typically $5‑$20 million per title – regardless of whether the studio is based in China or the West. Doust explains that to break even, a game needs to sell roughly a million copies, a challenging target given today’s discoverability issues.
4Divinity’s differentiation goes beyond pricing. Every game on display at Gamescom is a brand‑new intellectual property, many of which are debut titles even in China.
Larger publishers are reluctant to back multiple new IPs simultaneously, especially as AAA development becomes increasingly risk‑averse and franchise‑driven. This creates an opening for companies like 4Divinity to invest in fresh concepts. The catalyst for the publisher’s global pivot was the success of *Black Myth: Wukong*.
GCL handled the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as the publisher in Taiwan. Because the developer, Game Science, is Chinese, it lacked the infrastructure to manage global logistics, giving 4Divinity a valuable role.
Wukong’s triumph highlighted a broader trend. After China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad returned home and formed console‑oriented studios. *Black Myth: Wukong* was among the first to break out, and more are following. Doust points out that development costs in China are considerably lower; tax filings suggest Wukong cost around 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to produce, yet it sold 30 million copies, delivering a massive profit margin.
Chinese gamers are also highly price‑sensitive, reinforcing 4Divinity’s strategy of offering high‑quality, reasonably priced experiences. Doust argues that while major Western publishers have retreated from this niche due to financial risk, player appetite for such games remains strong, creating a "massive drought of supply." His mission is to bridge Western demand for affordable, fresh experiences with the supply that Chinese studios can deliver efficiently.
"When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked: what common themes can we find between East and West? Loyalty, trust, revenge – those are universal. We market the same game with different cultural lenses, something few have done successfully." Even without an aggressive marketing push, games will cross borders, but 4Divinity wants to accelerate that process. Doust calls the traditional approach a "do‑nothing" business: you market only in China, and a small ripple reaches the West, typically resulting in an 80/20 split (80 % of sales in China, 20 % elsewhere).
*Wukong* followed that pattern, selling about 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million abroad. The goal now is to shift the ratio toward 60/40, which would dramatically increase overall unit sales. Doust speculates that if *Wukong* had achieved such a balance, it might have become the best‑selling game of all time relative to its development budget.
4Divinity is pursuing a two‑way Silk Road strategy, moving titles east‑to‑west and west‑to‑east. Their only non‑Chinese title at present is *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a new studio based in Cyprus and founded by a former Wargaming employee. The marketing for that game began in China, with the first major push at Bilibili World, Shanghai’s massive anime and pop‑culture convention. Doust notes that no Western publisher has ever launched a campaign there so early, and the effort paid off: China quickly became the second‑largest wishlist market for the game after the United States.
The colossal Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market strategy. 4Divinity’s titles will appear in Cologne just weeks after a showcase at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, allowing simultaneous exposure in both regions rather than a staggered rollout that would force the company to chase after Chinese success. Beyond individual game promotion, Gamescom serves as 4Divinity’s debut on the Western stage.
While the company does run separate campaigns for each title, the trade show offers a chance to consolidate all of those efforts into a single, high‑impact event. "We haven’t done much in the West yet, so this is our opportunity to make some noise," Doust says.
"If we’re presenting an entire portfolio, why not go big?"