Walking the bustling corridors of Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most eye‑catching, elaborate 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 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 presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will appear in the accompanying trailer showcases, and four will be displayed on the public showfloor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands covers an impressive 800 square metres. But 4Divinity isn’t just betting on space; it’s also pulling out all the stops on spectacle.
"We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and left no stone unturned," Doust adds. Take the area dedicated to the 80s‑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 governs the United States.
"We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge draped with Japanese lanterns, and a fully stocked diner that visitors can walk into to try the game. It’s a fully immersive experience," Doust explains.
When he says no expense was spared, he means it. "I can’t disclose exact numbers – that would be crass – but we’re talking millions of dollars of investment. The sheer scale of our footprint makes that clear.
It shows how seriously we’re taking the Western market, something not every Chinese‑owned company can claim or even understand." So why might you not have heard of a company capable of such a spend? 4Divinity is one of several subsidiaries under Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery line. GCL’s roots lie in physical game distribution through Epicsoft, a business that has been operating for almost two decades.
"Physical distribution is still a significant part of our group’s revenue, and we’ll keep it as long as Sony continues to produce discs," Doust says, acknowledging the sector’s decline but noting its continued relevance for the time being. Recognising the shrinking nature of disc sales, GCL sought a digital‑first growth engine, which led to the creation of 4Divinity in 2022. Initially, the unit acted as a co‑publisher for Western developers looking to enter Southeast Asian markets.
"Finding a Western title that performs strongly in China is extremely challenging," Doust notes. The company succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which sold heavily in China, and later replicated that success with *Stalker 2*.
However, those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth model. As a Nasdaq‑listed entity, GCL needed a scalable, global publishing strategy. "From a growth perspective, we had to think globally," Doust says.
The answer was to start 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 lineup has swelled to eight titles slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid expansion period. The common thread among these games is clear: 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 independent publishers such as ProbablyMonsters. "Players today don’t have the time or desire to invest 200 hours into a live‑service title," Doust observes.
"An $80 AAA game is reserved for a few blockbuster franchises, but there’s a healthy appetite for $40‑$50 single‑player experiences." Developing such titles is costly – typically $5‑$20 million per game – regardless of whether they are made in China or the West. To break even, a title must sell roughly a million copies, a target that is increasingly hard to hit due to discoverability challenges. This reality pushes 4Divinity toward the “AA” segment, where development budgets are lower but quality remains high.
Another differentiator is that every game 4Divinity is showcasing at Gamescom is a brand‑new intellectual property. Even within China, these titles are fresh, and they are entirely unknown to Western audiences. Larger publishers tend to avoid betting on multiple new IPs simultaneously, preferring the safety of established franchises.
As development costs soar, AAA studios have become risk‑averse, turning their pipelines into franchise factories. Only a few emerging Chinese studios are willing to take the opposite route. The turning point for 4Divinity’s global ambitions 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 a Chinese studio, it lacked the infrastructure to manage global logistics, creating an opening for 4Divinity. "Wukong’s triumph demonstrated a broader opportunity for us," Doust explains. Since China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad have returned home and formed console‑ready studios.
*Black Myth* was one of the first high‑profile releases from this wave, and more are following. Development costs in China are markedly lower; a tax filing suggests *Wukong* cost just over 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million), yet the game sold 30 million copies, delivering a massive profit margin.
Chinese gamers are also highly price‑sensitive, which shapes 4Divinity’s pricing strategy. The publisher aims to bridge Western demand for affordable, high‑quality experiences with the supply of cost‑effective Chinese development. "My thesis, when I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, was to find common themes that resonate in both East and West – loyalty, revenge, defiance – and market the same game with different cultural lenses," Doust says. He believes no other publisher has executed this cross‑cultural approach as effectively.
Even without a concerted effort, games will cross borders, but 4Divinity wants to accelerate that process. Doust describes their traditional approach as a "do‑nothing" business: they market a game in China, a ripple effect creates modest sales in the West, typically an 80/20 split. *Wukong* followed that pattern, selling 20 million units in China and roughly three to four million elsewhere. The goal now is to shift the balance toward a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase total unit sales and potentially create one of the best‑selling games of all time relative to its development budget.
The publisher is pursuing a two‑way Silk Road model, moving titles east‑to‑west and west‑to‑east. Currently, its only non‑Chinese title is *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee.
The marketing push for this game began in China, where the team debuted it at Bilibili World in Shanghai – a move no Western publisher typically makes at such an early stage. The early exposure generated enough buzz that China became the second‑largest wishlist market for the game, trailing only the United States.
4Divinity’s massive Gamescom presence is a direct reflection of this dual‑market strategy. The company plans to roll out its titles in Cologne just weeks after showcasing them at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, ensuring simultaneous exposure in both regions. "Instead of waiting for a game to gain massive traction in China and then trying to catch up in the West, we launch in both markets at the same time," Doust explains. Beyond promoting individual games, Gamescom serves as 4Divinity’s Western debut party.
While the company does run game‑by‑game campaigns, the trade show allows it to consolidate all its efforts into one high‑impact event. "We haven’t done much in the West yet, so this is our chance to make a splash," Doust says. "If this is a portfolio play, why not go big?"