Strolling through the bustling corridors of Gamescom, the most 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 label most visitors won’t instantly recognize: 4Divinity. "By any measure, it’s massive," explains Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The company is presenting six titles inside the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will also appear in the adjacent trailer showcases, while four games will be displayed on the public floor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands occupies roughly 800 square metres. Doust stresses that the extravagance extends beyond sheer size: "We’ve hired one of the top booth‑construction firms at Gamescom and left no stone unturned." One of the most striking displays belongs to the 80s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. The set recreates a Hollywood‑hills‑type landscape that, in the game’s alternate timeline, has been renamed Neo‑Yokohama Hills after Japan assumes control of the United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge draped with Japanese lanterns, and a full‑scale diner that visitors can walk into to try the game.
It’s all about immersion," Doust adds. When pressed about the budget, Doust refuses to give an exact number, calling it "crass," but he confirms that the investment runs into the millions. "The sheer scale of our footprint makes it clear we’re committing resources at that level. It signals how seriously we’re taking the Western market – something not every Chinese‑based firm chooses to do or even knows how to execute." The reason this relatively unknown publisher can afford such a splash is that 4Divinity sits under the umbrella of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns a faux‑diamond jewellery brand.
GCL’s roots lie in physical game distribution through a company called Epicsoft, a business that has been operating for nearly two decades. While the disc‑based model is under pressure – especially after Sony’s recent statements about the future of physical media – it still represents a significant revenue stream for the group. "We’ll keep producing discs as long as Sony permits and there’s demand," Doust says, "but we recognise the market is shrinking, so we need a stronger digital focus." Enter 4Divinity.
Launched in 2022, the subsidiary originally acted as a co‑publisher for Western developers seeking entry into Southeast Asian markets. Doust notes that finding a Western title that resonates in China, particularly the mainland, is a tall order. Their first breakthrough came with *Atomic Heart*, which performed exceptionally well in China, followed by a similar success with *Stalker 2*.
However, those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine. For a Nasdaq‑listed group like GCL, a broader, globally‑oriented publishing strategy became essential. "From a growth perspective, we needed to think worldwide," says Doust. Consequently, 4Divinity began 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 couple of 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, each offering roughly 15‑20 hours of gameplay and positioned at a mid‑tier price point. This focus was not pre‑planned but emerged as a coherent strategy aimed at the so‑called “squeezed middle” of the market – a niche that US‑based studio ProbablyMonsters is also targeting.
"Players today don’t have the time or desire to invest 200 hours in a live‑service title," Doust observes. "The blockbuster $80 games are reserved for a few marquee franchises, but there’s a willingness to spend $40‑$50 on a well‑crafted single‑player adventure." Developing such games is far from cheap. Budgets typically range from $5 million to $20 million, regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West. Adding marketing, localisation and distribution costs means a title often needs to sell around a million copies just to break even – a challenging target in a crowded marketplace where discoverability is a constant hurdle.
4Divinity’s approach diverges further by championing brand‑new intellectual property. Even within China, the games they showcase at Gamescom are fresh IPs, and in the West they are entirely unknown.
Larger publishers tend to avoid betting on untested IPs, especially given the soaring development costs that have pushed AAA studios toward franchise‑centric models. Only a few emerging Chinese developers are willing to take those risks.
The turning point for 4Divinity’s global ambitions, according to Doust, was the handling of *Black Myth: Wukong*. GCL managed the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as the publisher in Taiwan. Because the developer, Game Science, is a Chinese studio, navigating international logistics was difficult, and 4Divinity’s Singapore base proved advantageous. *Wukong*’s triumph highlighted a broader opportunity.
After China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad returned home and formed new console and PC studios. *Black Myth: Wukong* was among the first to break out, and the pipeline of talent has only accelerated. Doust points out that development costs in China are considerably lower – the game’s budget was reported at roughly 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) – while the title sold an astonishing 30 million copies, delivering a huge profit margin.
Chinese gamers are also notably price‑sensitive, which shapes 4Divinity’s regional strategy. By offering high‑quality experiences at modest price points, the publisher can test titles in the Chinese market and then ripple that success into Western territories.
Doust describes this as a “do‑nothing” business model: the company primarily markets games in China, and the resulting buzz naturally carries over abroad, typically yielding an 80/20 split of sales (80 % in China, 20 % elsewhere). *Wukong* followed that pattern, moving 20 million units in China and roughly three to four million overseas. The ultimate goal, however, is to shift that balance toward a more even 60/40 distribution, which would significantly boost overall sales volumes. Doust muses that if *Wukong* had achieved such a split, it might have become the best‑selling game of all time when measured against 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 new studio based in Cyprus founded by a former employee of Wargaming, the creators of *World of Tanks*. The marketing push for this game began in China, with an early showcase at Bilibili World, Shanghai’s massive anime and pop‑culture convention. No Western publisher has ever launched a title there so early in its campaign. The exposure generated such enthusiasm that China became the game’s second‑largest wish‑list market after the United States.
4Divinity’s expansive Gamescom exhibition is essentially a Western counterpart to that China‑first strategy. The company plans to roll out its titles in Cologne shortly after they debut at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, ensuring simultaneous visibility in both regions rather than a staggered, catch‑up approach. Doust explains that while individual game campaigns will continue, Gamescom offers a unique platform to consolidate all of those efforts into a single, high‑impact showcase. "We haven’t done much in the West yet, so this is our chance to make a splash," he says.
"If we’re presenting an entire portfolio, why not go all‑in?"