Strolling 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 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 dedicated trailer showcases, and four will be displayed on the public floor across two separate stands. The larger of these spans roughly 800 square metres.
Doust emphasizes that the scale isn’t limited to space; the visual spectacle is equally ambitious. "We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and spared no expense," he notes. One of the most striking displays belongs to the 80s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. The booth recreates a Hollywood‑hill landscape that the game reimagines as Neo‑Yokohama Hills, an alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States.
"We built a seven‑metre‑high 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 immersion," Doust explains. When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to give exact numbers, calling it "crass" to do so, but he confirms that the investment runs into the millions. "The sheer size of our presence shows we’re serious about the Western market—a seriousness not all Chinese‑based firms share or even understand," he adds.
So why might you not have heard of a company capable of such spending? 4Divinity is part of a larger Singapore‑based conglomerate, GCL Global Holdings, which also owns a jewellery‑imitation business. GCL originally grew out of a physical‑distribution operation called Epicsoft, a venture that has been running for nearly two decades.
While physical disc distribution remains a component of the group’s revenue—"as long as Sony continues to produce discs, we’ll keep it going"—Doust acknowledges that the model is in decline, prompting a pivot toward digital‑focused activities. 4Divinity itself launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring games to Southeast Asia. Doust points out that finding a Western title that resonates in China is exceptionally difficult.
The publisher succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which performed strongly in the Chinese market, and later with *Stalker 2*. However, those successes were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine for a Nasdaq‑listed company like GCL. "From a growth standpoint we needed a truly global publishing model," Doust says.
The answer was to start signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the company had already secured a handful of titles, including a few indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*.
Since then the portfolio has swelled to eight games slated for launch over the next two years, marking a period of rapid expansion. All of the announced titles share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences lasting 15‑20 hours, priced in the mid‑tier range. This focus wasn’t pre‑planned but evolved into a coherent strategy aimed at the “squeezed middle” of the market—a segment also being targeted by U.S.
studio ProbablyMonsters. Doust believes this is what many gamers currently crave: "People don’t have time for 200‑hour live‑service games. The $80 blockbuster is reserved for a few titles, but there’s a willingness to spend $40‑$50 on a solid single‑player adventure." Developing such games is costly, typically requiring $5‑$20 million in production budgets, whether the studio is based in China or the West.
Adding operating expenses means a title often needs to sell a 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 game shown at Gamescom is a fresh intellectual property, many of which are debut releases even in China.
Larger publishers are increasingly risk‑averse, preferring to lean on established franchises because development costs have ballooned. Doust notes that only a handful of emerging Chinese studios are willing to take the gamble on brand‑new IP. The turning point for the publisher, according to Doust, was the handling of *Black Myth: Wukong*.
GCL managed the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as the Taiwanese publisher. Because the developer, Game Science, is a Chinese company, it lacked the infrastructure to manage global logistics, giving 4Divinity a unique opportunity to step in from its Singapore hub. *Wukong* illustrated the untapped potential of Chinese developers now able to create console‑ready titles after the 2016 lifting of the console ban.
Doust explains that many Chinese creators who had been working abroad returned home, forming new studios focused on console and PC markets. The game reportedly cost around 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to develop and sold roughly 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit margin. Lower development costs and price‑sensitive Chinese gamers shape 4Divinity’s regional strategy.
Doust argues that while major Western publishers have retreated from mid‑budget, single‑player projects for financial reasons, consumer interest in such experiences remains strong, creating a “massive drought of supply.” His mission is to bridge Western demand for affordable, novel experiences with the supply side that Chinese developers can provide. "When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked whether we could find common narrative themes that resonate across East and West—loyalty, revenge, defiance. Those universal kernels let us market the same game with different cultural lenses," Doust says, adding that few have executed this effectively. Even without an aggressive marketing push, games tend to cross borders.
Doust calls this the company’s "do‑nothing" business model: they market primarily in China, and a ripple effect generates sales abroad, typically an 80/20 split. *Wukong* exemplified this, selling 20 million units in China and 3‑4 million elsewhere.
Doust hopes to shift that balance to a 60/40 split through coordinated cross‑border campaigns, which could dramatically increase overall sales volumes. The publisher is also experimenting in the opposite direction.
Its sole non‑Chinese title, *Guns Of Eschaton*, was developed by a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. After announcing the game, 4Divinity immediately showcased it at Bilibili World in Shanghai—an unprecedented early‑stage push for a Western title. The move generated enough buzz that China became the second‑largest wishlist market after the United States.
Thus, the colossal Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market strategy. The company plans to debut its games in Cologne shortly after showcasing them at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, ensuring simultaneous exposure in both territories rather than a delayed, catch‑up approach. Gamescom also serves as 4Divinity’s Western coming‑out party.
While the firm runs individual game campaigns, the trade show allows it to consolidate its portfolio into a single, high‑impact launch. "If we’re using Gamescom to introduce our entire slate to the West, why not go big?" Doust concludes.