Strolling through Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most impressive, sprawling booths belong 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 visitors probably haven’t heard of: 4Divinity.
"It’s massive by any measure," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, when describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The firm will showcase six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of those in the accompanying trailer presentations, and four on the public show‑floor across two separate stands, the larger of which covers roughly 800 square metres. The ambition goes beyond sheer size; Doust emphasizes that the company has hired one of the top booth‑construction firms at the fair and spared no expense in the build‑out.
One of the highlighted experiences is the ‘80s‑style pop‑culture RPG Showa American Story, which transports visitors to a re‑imagined Hollywood Hills now called Neo Yokohama Hills – an alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States. "We’ve erected a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge fitted with Japanese lanterns, and we rebuilt a classic diner that guests can walk into to try the game," Doust explains. The aim is to make the booth an immersive playground rather than a static display.
When pressed about the cost, Doust refuses to quote an exact figure, calling it "crass," but admits the investment runs into the millions of dollars. "The scale of our footprint alone shows we’re willing to pour that level of money into the western market, something not every Chinese‑based publisher is prepared to do or even knows how to execute," he adds.
So why is a relatively unknown company willing to spend that kind of cash? 4Divinity is part of a larger conglomerate, Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, which also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business and a long‑standing physical‑distribution arm called Epicsoft. Epicsoft has been moving game discs for almost two decades, a model that is now under pressure due to Sony’s recent moves away from physical media. Doust acknowledges that while disc distribution remains a revenue stream "as long as Sony allows it," the business is in decline, prompting the group to shift focus toward digital publishing.
4Divinity was launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping western developers bring titles to Southeast Asia. Doust cites the success of Atomic Heart in China and later Stalker 2 as proof that western games can find a foothold in the Chinese market, but he notes those successes were exceptions rather than the rule. "We needed a growth engine that could work globally," he says, explaining why the company began signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release.
At the time Doust joined in late 2024, the portfolio already included a handful of smaller indie projects and the ambitious Showa American Story. Since then the slate has expanded to eight games slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid growth phase for the publisher.
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 being pursued by other independent publishers such as ProbablyMonsters. Doust believes this segment meets a clear player demand: "People don’t have time for 200‑hour live‑service games, and they’re not willing to spend $80 on a single‑player title. A $40‑$50 price point for a well‑crafted experience hits the sweet spot." Developing games in this AA tier typically costs between $5 million and $20 million, regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West.
Doust points out that to break even, a title must sell roughly a million copies, a challenging target given today’s discoverability issues. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on new IP. Every game on display at Gamescom is an original property, many of which are debut titles in both China and the West. Larger studios tend to avoid betting on untested IP, especially after the rising costs of AAA development have turned many publishers into franchise‑centric operations.
This risk‑averse climate leaves space for smaller companies to introduce fresh concepts. The turning point for 4Divinity, according to Doust, was the distribution of Black Myth: Wukong. GCL handled the physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan, leveraging its Singapore base to bridge the gap for the Chinese developer Game Science.
The success of Wukong demonstrated the untapped potential of Chinese studios that have shifted to console and PC development since the 2016 lifting of the console ban. Wukong’s development budget was reported at about 300 million yuan (approximately $44.6 million), yet the game sold 30 million copies, delivering a remarkable profit margin.
Doust notes that production costs in China are considerably lower than in the West and that Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive, factors that shape 4Divinity’s business model. His thesis is simple: match western demand for affordable, narrative‑driven experiences with Chinese studios that can produce them cost‑effectively.
He explains, "We look for universal themes—loyalty, revenge, defiance—that resonate across cultures, then market the same asset with a slightly different narrative lens for each region. No one has done this at scale yet." Even without an aggressive marketing push, games tend to cross borders organically.
Doust calls this the "do‑nothing" model: the publisher focuses on Chinese marketing, which creates a ripple effect in the West, typically yielding an 80/20 sales split (80 % in China, 20 % elsewhere). Wukong followed that pattern, selling about 20 million units in China and 3‑4 million abroad. The goal for 4Divinity is to shift that ratio toward a more balanced 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase overall unit sales. Doust muses that if Wukong had achieved such a distribution, it could have become the best‑selling game of all time relative to its development budget.
To achieve a two‑way flow—East to West and West to East—the publisher is already testing the reverse direction. Its only non‑Chinese title at present, Guns of Eschaton, was developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a new studio in Cyprus founded by a former Wargaming employee.
After announcing the game, 4Divinity launched a promotional campaign at Bilibili World, a massive anime and pop‑culture expo in Shanghai. This early push generated enough buzz that China became the second‑largest wishlist market for the title after the United States.
The massive Gamescom presence therefore mirrors the company’s broader strategy: rather than waiting for a game to gain traction in China and then scrambling to enter the West, 4Divinity aims to launch simultaneously in both territories. By debuting its portfolio at ChinaJoy in Shanghai and then immediately showcasing the same titles at Gamescom, the publisher hopes to create parallel momentum. Gamescom also serves as the publisher’s "coming‑out party" in the West. While individual game campaigns continue, the fair offers a single, high‑impact platform to introduce the entire slate and the brand itself to a new audience.
"If we’re using Gamescom as a portfolio launch, why not go big?" Doust concludes, underscoring the ambition behind the multi‑million‑dollar investment.