Walking through Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most 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 occupied by a company most visitors probably haven’t heard of: 4Divinity. "It’s massive by any measure," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK operation, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The firm is showcasing six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will appear in the associated trailer showcases, and four will be displayed on the public floor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands spans roughly 800 square metres. Doust emphasizes that the scale is matched by spectacle: "We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and spared no expense." One of the most eye‑catching installations is for the 1980s‑style RPG *Showa American Story*. The set recreates the Hollywood Hills—rebranded as the Neo‑Yokohama Hills in the game’s alternate timeline where Japan rules the United States.
"We built a seven‑metre‑high Golden Gate Bridge fitted with Japanese lanterns, and a fully stocked diner that visitors can walk into to try the game. It’s all about creating an immersive experience," Doust explains.
When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to give a precise figure, noting only that "it runs into the millions of dollars." He adds that the investment signals how seriously 4Divinity is taking the Western market, something he says not every Chinese‑based company appreciates or attempts. The reason many readers may not recognize the name is that 4Divinity is part of a larger Singapore‑based conglomerate, GCL Global Holdings, which also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery line. GCL’s roots lie in physical game distribution through a company called Epicsoft, a business that has been operating for almost two decades. While physical media remains a component of the group’s revenue—"as long as Sony continues to produce discs, we’ll keep supporting that segment"—Doust acknowledges that the market is shrinking, prompting the group to pivot toward digital‑focused activities.
4Divinity was launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring games to Southeast Asia. Doust cites the success of *Atomic Heart*—which performed strongly in China—as a proof point, followed by a similar achievement with *Stalker 2*. However, he notes those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine for a Nasdaq‑listed company. "From a growth standpoint we needed a truly global publishing model," he says.
Consequently, 4Divinity began signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the company already had a few smaller 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 growth phase. All of the titles share common characteristics: they are primarily single‑player experiences lasting 15‑20 hours, priced in the mid‑tier range.
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, and they aren’t willing to spend $80 on a blockbuster. A $40‑$50 single‑player adventure hits the sweet spot." Developing such games is costly—typically $5 million to $20 million per title—whether in China or the West.
Doust points out that to break even, a game must sell roughly a million copies, a target that is increasingly hard to hit given discoverability challenges. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its commitment to new intellectual property. "Everything you’ll see at Gamescom is brand‑new IP," Doust says. Even in China, the titles are fresh, and in the West they are entirely unknown.
Larger publishers tend to avoid betting on multiple new IPs because rising development costs have pushed AAA studios toward franchise‑centric models. Only a handful of emerging Chinese companies are willing to take such risks. The turning point for 4Divinity, according to Doust, 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 opportunity. Wukong’s triumph highlighted a broader trend: after China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad returned home and formed console‑ready studios.
*Black Myth* was one of the first successes, and more are following. Doust notes that development costs in China are considerably lower—Wukong reportedly cost around 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million)—yet the game sold 30 million copies, delivering 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 mid‑budget single‑player games for financial reasons, consumer demand for such experiences remains strong, creating a “massive drought of supply.” His mission is to bridge Western appetite for affordable, novel experiences with the supply of Chinese developers who can deliver them efficiently. "When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked whether we could find thematic commonalities between East and West. Themes like loyalty, revenge, and defiance resonate everywhere.
By tailoring marketing messages to each region while using the same assets, we can create a unified campaign that feels local," Doust explains. Doust describes a “do‑nothing” model where 4Divinity primarily markets games in China, allowing a ripple effect to generate sales abroad. *Wukong* sold roughly 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million elsewhere, an 80/20 split that mirrors the pattern for many Western titles in Asia. The goal for 4Divinity is to shift that balance to a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase overall unit sales and could potentially produce a best‑selling game relative to its modest development budget.
The publisher is also experimenting with reverse promotion—bringing Western titles to China first. Their only non‑Chinese game at the moment, *Guns Of Eschaton* from Cyprus‑based Eschatology Entertainment, was launched at Bilibili World, China’s massive anime and pop‑culture expo in Shanghai. Doust says this early exposure helped make China the second‑largest wishlist market for the game, right behind the United States. Thus, the enormous Gamescom presence serves as the Western counterpart to the China‑first strategy.
By aligning launches at ChinaJoy in Shanghai with simultaneous showcases at Gamescom in Cologne, 4Divinity aims to avoid a lag‑behind scenario and generate buzz in both territories at once. Ultimately, Gamescom is the publisher’s Western coming‑out party.
While they will continue to run individual game campaigns, the trade show offers a single platform to introduce the entire portfolio and the company itself to a new audience. "If we’re using Gamescom as a portfolio launch, why not go big?" Doust concludes.