Walking through Gamescom, the massive, eye‑catching booths are usually attached to household names—Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the like. This year, however, a sizeable portion of Halls 6 and 7 is dominated by a company most attendees probably haven’t heard of: 4Divinity.
"It’s enormous by any standard," 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 feature in the associated trailer showcases, and four will appear on the public show floor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands occupies roughly 800 square metres. Doust adds that the scale is matched by the spectacle: "We’re using one of the best booth builders at Gamescom and no expense has been spared." One of the showcased experiences, the 80s‑style pop‑culture RPG *Showa American Story*, includes a full‑scale recreation of the Hollywood Hills—rebranded as Neo Yokohama Hills in the game’s alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States. "We have a seven‑metre‑high Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and 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 our footprint alone shows we’re committing resources at that 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 publisher can afford such a lavish presence is its corporate backing. 4Divinity is part of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business. GCL’s core business was built on physical game distribution through Epicsoft, a company with nearly two decades of experience. While the disc‑based model is shrinking—especially after recent Sony announcements—GCL still maintains it "as long as Sony allows and discs are produced," Doust says, but acknowledges the need to pivot toward digital.
4Divinity was 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.
The company succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which performed strongly in the Chinese market, and later with *Stalker 2*. However, those successes were outliers. "From a growth perspective, a Nasdaq‑listed group like GCL needed a global publishing model," Doust says, prompting 4Divinity to start signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the portfolio already included a few smaller indie titles and the ambitious *Showa American Story*.
Since then the slate 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, run 15‑20 hours, and sit in the mid‑tier price bracket. This focus on the "squeezed middle" of the market mirrors a strategy pursued by other firms such as the US‑based ProbablyMonsters.
Doust believes this segment captures current player desire: "People don’t have 200 hours for a live‑service game. An $80 AAA title is reserved for a few blockbusters, but many gamers are willing to spend $40‑50 on a polished single‑player adventure." Developing such games costs between $5 million and $20 million, regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West.
With additional operating expenses, a title typically needs to sell around a million copies just to break even, a daunting target in today’s crowded marketplace where discoverability is a major hurdle. 4Divinity also distinguishes itself by championing brand‑new intellectual property.
"Everything you’ll see at Gamescom is new IP, both in China and in the West," Doust says. Larger publishers are reluctant to gamble on untested IPs, especially as AAA development becomes increasingly risk‑averse and franchise‑driven. This opens a niche for companies willing to back fresh concepts. The turning point for 4Divinity’s global ambition was the handling of *Black Myth: Wukong*.
GCL managed the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan. Because the developer, Game Science, is a Chinese studio, it lacked the infrastructure to handle global logistics, giving 4Divinity a unique entry point.
Wukong’s success 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‑focused studios.
*Black Myth* was one of the first to break through, and more are emerging. Development costs in China are considerably lower; a tax filing suggests Wukong cost roughly 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to produce, yet it sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit margin. Doust points out that Chinese players are highly price‑sensitive, reinforcing 4Divinity’s strategy of offering affordable, high‑quality experiences.
He argues that while major Western publishers have retreated from this segment for financial reasons, consumer appetite remains strong, creating a "massive drought of supply." His mission is to bridge Western demand for fresh, reasonably priced experiences with Chinese developers’ capacity to deliver them. "My thesis, when I started working with Jacky Choo, was ‘what if we can find common themes between East and West?’" he says. Themes like loyalty, trust, defiance, and revenge translate across cultures, allowing the same marketing assets to be repurposed with different messaging for each region.
Even without an aggressive marketing push, games tend to cross borders. Doust calls this the "do‑nothing" model: the publisher markets primarily in China, and a ripple effect generates sales abroad, typically an 80/20 split. *Wukong* sold 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million elsewhere, exemplifying this ratio.
Doust hopes to shift the balance to a 60/40 split through coordinated cross‑border campaigns, which could dramatically increase total unit sales. The company is also experimenting with reverse promotion. Its only non‑Chinese title, *Guns Of Eschaton*, was first showcased at Bilibili World in Shanghai—an early move no Western studio has made. The early exposure made China the second‑largest wishlist market after the United States, proving the viability of a two‑way Silk‑Road‑style strategy.
Thus, the massive Gamescom presence is a physical manifestation of this dual‑market approach. The games are arriving in Cologne shortly after a ChinaJoy debut in Shanghai, allowing 4Divinity to generate simultaneous buzz in both regions rather than chasing a Chinese success story after the fact. Gamescom also serves as 4Divinity’s western coming‑out party. While the company runs individual game campaigns, the trade show offers a consolidated platform to make a louder noise in a market where it has historically been quiet.
"If this is a portfolio play to introduce our games and ourselves to the West, why not go big?" Doust concludes.