Walking through Gamescom, the massive, eye‑catching booths are usually anchored by household names – Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft and the like. This year, however, a sizable portion of Halls 6 and 7 will be dominated by a company most visitors probably haven’t heard of: 4Divinity. “It’s huge by any standard,” says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint.
The company will feature six titles in the closed‑door B2B area, five of those in accompanying trailer showcases, and four games on the public show floor across two separate stands. The larger stand covers an impressive 800 square metres. Doust adds that the scale isn’t limited to space; the company has hired one of the top booth builders at the fair and “no expense has been spared.” One of the showcases, for the 1980s‑style pop‑culture RPG *Showa American Story*, includes a replica of the Hollywood Hills, re‑imagined as the Neo‑Yokohama Hills in an alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge with Japanese lanterns, a diner you can walk into to start playing – it’s all very experiential," Doust explains.
When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to give an exact figure, calling it “crass,” but confirms that the investment runs into the millions. "The size of the footprint alone shows we’re putting serious money behind our western push – something not every Chinese‑owned company is willing or able to do." The reason many have never encountered 4Divinity is that it sits under the umbrella of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business.
GCL’s roots lie in a physical‑distribution operation called Epicsoft, which has been running for nearly two decades. While physical distribution remains a component of the group’s revenue, Doust acknowledges the market is shrinking as console manufacturers like Sony reduce disc production. "We’ll keep it as long as Sony allows and discs are made, but we know it’s a declining segment, so we needed a digital‑focused growth engine." Enter 4Divinity, launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping western developers bring games to Southeast Asia.
Doust notes that finding a western title that resonates in China is difficult. Their first big success was *Atomic Heart*, which performed strongly in the Chinese market, followed by *Stalker 2*. Those titles were outliers, however, and could not sustain the growth GCL required as a Nasdaq‑listed entity. "From a growth perspective we had to become a global publisher," Doust says.
Since then, 4Divinity has begun signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the company already had a few indie titles and the ambitious *Showa American Story* in its pipeline. Today the portfolio has expanded to eight games slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid expansion period. The common thread among the upcoming titles is clear: they are primarily single‑player experiences, lasting 15‑20 hours, and priced in the mid‑tier range.
This focus on the “squeezed middle” of the market mirrors strategies employed by U.S. outfit ProbablyMonsters. Doust believes this segment captures current player sentiment: "People don’t want to invest 200 hours in a live‑service game. An $80 AAA title is reserved for a few blockbuster franchises, but many gamers are happy to spend $40‑50 on a polished single‑player adventure." Developing games in this AA bracket typically costs between $5 million and $20 million.
Whether produced in China or the West, those budgets demand sales of roughly a million copies just to break even – a challenging target given today’s discoverability hurdles. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on new IP. "Everything you’ll see from us at Gamescom is brand‑new," Doust says. Even in China, many of the titles are fresh to the market, and in the West they are completely unknown.
Larger publishers are increasingly risk‑averse, leaning on established franchises rather than betting on multiple new IPs, especially given soaring development costs. The catalyst for the publisher’s global pivot, according to Doust, was *Black Myth: Wukong*.
GCL handled the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan. Because the developer, Game Science, is a Chinese studio, navigating international logistics was difficult, and 4Divinity’s Singapore base proved invaluable. *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. The game reportedly cost around 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to develop and sold 30 million copies, delivering a massive profit margin.
Doust points out that development costs in China are substantially lower, and Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive. This environment shaped 4Divinity’s strategy: leverage inexpensive, high‑quality Chinese production to meet western demand for affordable, narrative‑driven experiences. He describes the mission as connecting western appetite for “new experiences that don’t cost the earth” with Chinese supply capabilities.
His guiding thesis, formed with GCL chairman Jacky Choo, is to identify universal themes—loyalty, trust, defiance, revenge—and market the same game with different cultural lenses to resonate in each region. Doust believes few have executed this cross‑cultural branding effectively.
Even without a dedicated western marketing push, games tend to flow across borders. Doust calls this the “do‑nothing” business model: the publisher markets primarily in China, and a ripple effect generates sales elsewhere, typically an 80/20 split. *Wukong* sold roughly 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million abroad, illustrating the pattern. The ambition now is to shift that balance toward a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase unit sales and could, in theory, produce the best‑selling game of all time when measured against development costs.
Doust likens the effort to a modern Silk Road, moving titles east‑to‑west and west‑to‑east. Outside of China, 4Divinity’s only current title is *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. The marketing launch began in China at Bilibili World, a massive anime and pop‑culture expo in Shanghai—an early‑stage move no western publisher typically makes. The early buzz elevated China to the second‑largest wishlist market for the game, behind the United States, confirming the viability of the bidirectional strategy.
Thus, the massive Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market approach. The company is showcasing its slate in Cologne shortly after a ChinaJoy debut in Shanghai, aiming to generate simultaneous traction rather than playing catch‑up after a Chinese breakout. Gamescom serves as the western coming‑out party, allowing 4Divinity to consolidate multiple game campaigns into a single, high‑impact event.
As Doust puts it, "If we’re using Gamescom to introduce our portfolio and ourselves to the west, why not go big?"