Strolling through Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most expansive and eye‑catching booths belong to household names—Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the like. This year, however, a sizeable portion of Halls 6 and 7 will be occupied by a company most visitors probably don’t recognize: 4Divinity. "It’s massive by any measure," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, 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 covers roughly 800 square metres. 4Divinity isn’t just expanding its physical presence; it is also pulling out all the stops on spectacle.
"We’ve hired one of the top booth‑builders at Gamescom and left no stone unturned," Doust adds. One of the most striking installations belongs to the 80s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. The booth recreates a Hollywood‑Hills‑style landscape that, in the game’s alternate timeline, has been renamed Neo Yokohama Hills, a place where Japan governs the United States.
"We built a seven‑metre‑high replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, draped with Japanese lanterns, and a fully stocked diner that visitors can walk through to try the game. It’s all about immersion," Doust explains. When he says no expense was spared, he means it.
"I can’t quote exact numbers—it would be crass—but we’re talking millions of dollars in investment. The sheer size of our footprint should make it clear we’re playing at a high level.
It reflects how seriously we’re taking the Western market, something not every Chinese‑owned company does or even knows how to do," he says. That comment hints at why many have never heard of a company capable of such spending.
4Divinity is one of several gaming entities owned by Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also dabbles in imitation‑diamond jewellery. GCL’s core business grew out of a physical‑distribution operation called Epicsoft, which has been around for almost two decades.
"Physical distribution is still a sizable part of the group’s revenue, and we’ll keep it as long as Sony continues to support disc production," Doust notes, acknowledging the sector’s decline but also its lingering importance. Recognising the need to diversify, GCL launched 4Divinity in 2022 as a co‑publisher that would help Western developers bring their titles to Southeast Asia.
Doust points out that finding a Western game that resonates in China is exceptionally difficult. "We succeeded with *Atomic Heart*—China was a huge market for that title—and then repeated the formula with *Stalker 2*. But those successes were outliers," he says. Because GCL is a Nasdaq‑listed company, modest growth would not satisfy shareholders.
"From a growth perspective we needed a truly global publishing model," Doust explains. The company therefore began signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. This effort started before Doust joined in late 2024; at that time, the roster already included a handful of indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*.
Since then the portfolio has swelled to eight games slated for release over the next two years, marking a period of rapid expansion. All of the titles share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences lasting 15–20 hours, priced in the mid‑tier range.
Doust says this wasn’t a pre‑planned formula but rather a natural convergence toward what he calls the “squeezed middle” of the market—a segment also being targeted by U.S. studio ProbablyMonsters.
"Players today don’t have the time or desire to commit 200 hours to a live‑service game. AAA titles priced at $80 are reserved for a few blockbuster franchises. However, gamers are willing to spend $40–$50 on a well‑crafted single‑player adventure," he observes.
Developing such games is costly regardless of geography. "These projects typically require $5 million to $20 million in development funds. Whether you’re in China or the West, that’s a big gamble.
To break even you need to sell roughly a million copies, which is increasingly hard given discoverability challenges," Doust admits. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its focus on new intellectual property. "Everything you’ll see from us at Gamescom is brand‑new IP.
Even in China, these are fresh titles, and they’re completely new to Western audiences as well. Larger publishers shy away from betting on untested IP, especially when development costs keep climbing. AAA has become so risk‑averse that it’s essentially a franchise‑only business, unless you’re an emerging Chinese studio," he explains.
The turning point for the publisher, according to Doust, was the distribution of *Black Myth: Wukong*. GCL handled the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as the publisher in Taiwan.
Because Game Science, the Chinese developer, lacked the infrastructure to manage global logistics, 4Divinity stepped in from its Singapore base. *Wukong*’s triumph opened a broader window of opportunity. The 2016 lifting of China’s console ban led many Chinese developers who had been working abroad to return home and form console‑focused studios. "*Black Myth* was among the first to break out, and now there’s a wave of similar projects," Doust says.
The game reportedly cost about 300 million yuan (roughly $44.6 million) to develop and sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit margin. Chinese development costs are lower, and Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive. This dynamic shaped 4Divinity’s regional strategy and gave the company confidence that similar titles could succeed in Western markets, where major publishers have largely retreated from mid‑budget single‑player games.
"There’s a massive drought of supply for this type of experience," Doust notes. His mission is to bridge Western demand for affordable, high‑quality experiences with the supply side that Chinese studios can provide. "When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, my thesis was: can we find universal themes that resonate in both East and West?
Loyalty, trust, defiance, revenge—these are core human emotions. We market the same game with the same assets, but we tweak the narrative lens to suit each region. No one has done this effectively at scale yet," he says.
Even without a concerted effort, games will cross borders, but 4Divinity wants to accelerate that flow. Doust calls the passive approach the "do‑nothing" model: market a game in China, let a ripple reach the West, and end up with an 80/20 sales split (80 % China, 20 % elsewhere).
*Wukong* followed that pattern, selling 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million abroad. Doust aims to shift that ratio toward a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase overall unit sales and could potentially make a title one of the best‑selling games of all time relative to its development budget.
The publisher’s cross‑border ambition is likened to a modern Silk Road, moving titles east‑to‑west and west‑to‑east. Currently, the only non‑Chinese game in its lineup is *Guns of Eschaton*, created by Eschatology Entertainment—a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former World of Tanks developer.
The marketing push for that title began in China, where the team debuted it at Bilibili World, a massive anime and pop‑culture convention in Shanghai. "No Western studio launches a game there so early in the campaign.
That generated enough buzz that China became the second‑largest wishlist market after the United States," Doust says. The colossal Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market strategy. The company will showcase its games in Cologne just weeks after unveiling them at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, aiming to generate simultaneous traction in both regions rather than playing catch‑up after a Chinese hit has already peaked.
Beyond individual game promotion, Gamescom serves as 4Divinity’s Western coming‑out party. "We could run separate campaigns for each title, and we do that to a degree, but Gamescom lets us bundle everything into one high‑impact event. We haven’t done much in the West yet, so this is our chance to make some noise," Doust explains. "If this is a 4Divinity portfolio play, why not go big?"