Why an Obscure Publisher Is Investing Millions in Its Gamescom Showcase

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 sizable portion of Halls 6 and 7 will be dominated by a company most attendees probably won’t recognize: 4Divinity. "It’s huge by any measure," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint.

The firm will showcase six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of those in accompanying trailer presentations, and four games on the public floor across two separate stands, the larger of which covers 800 square metres. The ambition extends beyond sheer size; Doust notes that they have hired one of the premier booth‑construction firms at the show and have spared no expense in the build.

One of the most striking installations is for the 1980s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. The set recreates a Hollywood‑hillscape that, in the game’s alternate timeline, has been renamed Neo‑Yokohama Hills under a Japan‑ruled United States.

"We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a diner you can actually walk into to start playing. It’s a fully immersive experience," Doust explains.

When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to give a precise figure, calling it "crass" to do so, but confirms that the investment runs into the millions. "The scale of our footprint alone shows we’re committing resources at that level. It reflects how seriously we’re taking the Western market – something not all Chinese‑origin firms are willing or able to do." The reason the name 4Divinity may be unfamiliar 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, a business that has been active for almost two decades.

While the disc‑based model remains a part of the group’s revenue stream – and will continue as long as Sony permits physical releases – Doust acknowledges that the market is shrinking. "We recognise that physical distribution is a declining segment, so we needed a digital‑focused growth engine," he says.

Enter 4Divinity, launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring their games to Southeast Asia. Doust points out that finding a Western title that resonates strongly in China is a rare feat.

The company succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which performed exceptionally well in the Chinese market, and then replicated that success with *Stalker 2*. However, those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth model.

As a Nasdaq‑listed entity, GCL required a more scalable strategy. "From a growth perspective we needed global publishing," Doust states. Consequently, 4Divinity began 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. Since then the portfolio has expanded to eight games slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid growth phase. All of the titles share common traits: 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 a strategy pursued by U.S. studio ProbablyMonsters.

Doust believes this segment captures current player sentiment: "People don’t want to invest 200 hours into a live‑service game. 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 million to $20 million per title – regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West.

With additional operating expenses, a game often needs to sell around a million copies just to break even, a target that is increasingly difficult given discoverability challenges. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on new IP. "Everything you’ll see from us at Gamescom is brand‑new IP.

Even in China, these are fresh concepts, and they’re completely new to Western audiences as well," Doust notes. Larger publishers tend to avoid betting on untested IP, especially as development costs rise and AAA studios become risk‑averse, focusing on established franchises.

Only a handful of emerging Chinese developers are willing to take that gamble. The catalyst for 4Divinity’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, it lacked the infrastructure to manage global logistics, allowing 4Divinity to step in from its Singapore base. *Wukong* demonstrated the untapped potential of Chinese console developers. After China lifted its console ban in 2016, many studios that had been working abroad returned home and began creating console‑ready titles.

*Black Myth* was among the first high‑profile successes, and the market has since produced a growing pipeline of promising games. Doust highlights that development costs in China are markedly lower; tax filings suggest *Wukong* cost roughly 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to produce, yet it sold 30 million copies, generating a substantial profit. Chinese gamers are also highly price‑sensitive, which shapes 4Divinity’s pricing strategy and makes it easier to test titles in other regions.

Doust argues that while major Western publishers have retreated from funding mid‑budget single‑player games for financial reasons, player demand for such experiences remains strong – creating a “massive drought of supply.” His mission is to bridge Western appetite for affordable, high‑quality experiences with the supply chain that Chinese developers can provide. "When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked: what if we could find universal themes that resonate in both East and West? Loyalty, trust, defiance, revenge – those are universal narratives. We market the same game with the same assets but tailor the messaging to each market’s cultural lens.

No one has done that effectively yet." Even without a dedicated cross‑market push, games tend to flow across borders, but 4Divinity wants to accelerate that process. Doust calls the traditional approach a "do‑nothing" business: you market a game only in China, and a ripple effect leads to modest sales abroad, typically an 80/20 split (80 % of sales in China, 20 % elsewhere). *Wukong* followed that pattern, selling 20 million copies in China and about three to four million internationally.

The goal now is to shift that ratio to something like 60/40, which would dramatically increase global unit sales. Doust speculates that if *Wukong* had benefitted from a more balanced marketing effort, it could have become the best‑selling game of all time relative to its development budget. To illustrate the two‑way flow, Doust cites the studio’s first non‑Chinese title, *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee.

The marketing campaign began in China, with the game’s debut at Bilibili World in Shanghai – an early move that no Western publisher typically makes. The early Chinese buzz propelled the game to become the second‑most‑wanted title in China, trailing only the United States, signaling that the reverse‑flow strategy works. The massive Gamescom presence is essentially a live embodiment of this cross‑border vision.

4Divinity’s titles will appear in Cologne shortly after their ChinaJoy showcases in Shanghai, allowing simultaneous exposure in both markets rather than a staggered rollout where the Chinese launch precedes Western awareness. Gamescom also serves as the publisher’s western debut party. While the company runs individual game campaigns, the trade show offers a chance to consolidate all its efforts into one high‑impact event. "If this is a 4Divinity portfolio push, why not go big?" Doust concludes, underscoring the ambition to make noise in the West and announce that a relatively unknown Chinese‑focused publisher is now a serious player on the global stage.