Strolling through Gamescom, the most elaborate booths are usually attached to household names—Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the like. This year, however, a substantial portion of Halls 6 and 7 is dominated by a company most visitors probably don’t recognize: 4Divinity. "By any measure, it’s massive," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The firm is presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will feature in the adjacent trailer showcases, and four will appear on the public floor across two separate stands, the larger covering 800 square metres.
The ambition extends beyond sheer size to visual spectacle. "We’ve hired one of the top booth constructors at Gamescom and spared no expense," Doust adds.
One of the displays, dedicated to the 80s‑style RPG Showa American Story, recreates a Hollywood‑Hills‑in‑Neo‑Yokohama setting where Japan rules the United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑high Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a fully‑fledged diner that visitors can walk through to start playing. It’s all about immersion," he explains.
When pressed about the cost, Doust is vague but emphatic. "I can’t quote exact numbers—it would be crass—but we’re talking millions of dollars. The scale of our footprint alone shows the level of investment.
It signals how seriously we’re taking the Western market, something not all Chinese firms appreciate or attempt." The reason this publisher can afford such a spend is that 4Divinity sits under the Singapore‑based conglomerate GCL Global Holdings, which also owns a faux‑diamond jewellery line. GCL’s roots lie in physical game distribution through Epicsoft, a business that has operated for nearly two decades.
While physical media is waning—especially after Sony’s recent moves—GCL still maintains the operation as long as discs remain viable, acknowledging the decline and the need to pivot toward digital. 4Divinity emerged in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers reach Southeast Asian audiences. Doust notes that finding a Western title that thrives in China is challenging.
They succeeded with Atomic Heart, which performed strongly in the Chinese market, and repeated the feat with Stalker 2, but those were exceptions rather than the rule. For a Nasdaq‑listed company like GCL, growth must be global. "From a growth standpoint we needed a worldwide publishing model," Doust says. Consequently, 4Divinity began signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release.
By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the company already had a handful of titles—smaller indies and the ambitious Showa American Story—under its belt. Today the portfolio has expanded to eight games slated for release over the next two years, marking a rapid growth phase. The current lineup shares common traits: predominantly single‑player experiences lasting 15‑20 hours, priced in the mid‑tier range. This focus wasn’t pre‑planned but evolved into a clear strategy aimed at the “squeezed middle” of the market—a niche also pursued by US firm ProbablyMonsters.
"Players today don’t want to invest 200 hours in a live‑service game. They’re willing to spend $40‑50 on a solid single‑player adventure," Doust observes.
Developing such games costs between $5 million and $20 million, regardless of geography. Doust points out that to break even, a title must sell roughly a million copies—a daunting target given today’s discoverability challenges.
4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on new IP. "Everything you’ll see at Gamescom from us is brand‑new IP.
Even in China, these are fresh concepts, and in the West they’re completely unknown," he says. Larger studios are reluctant to gamble on multiple new IPs because AAA development has become risk‑averse, focusing on established franchises. Only a few emerging Chinese studios are willing to take that leap.
The turning point for 4Divinity’s global ambition, according to Doust, was the success of Black Myth: Wukong. GCL handled the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan.
Because Game Science, the Chinese developer, lacked the infrastructure for global distribution, 4Divinity stepped in from Singapore. 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 console‑ and PC‑focused studios.
Wukong was one of the first high‑profile releases, and more are following. With two offices in China, GCL now has direct access to this burgeoning talent pool. Financially, Wukong was modest by Western standards.
A Chinese tax filing suggests a development budget of roughly 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million). Yet the game sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit margin. "Development costs are far lower in China, and Chinese gamers are very price‑sensitive," Doust notes. This reality shaped 4Divinity’s regional strategy and supports the hypothesis that, while major publishers have retreated from mid‑budget single‑player titles for financial reasons, player appetite for such experiences remains strong, creating a supply gap.
Doust’s mission is to bridge Western demand for affordable, enjoyable experiences with Chinese developers’ capacity to deliver them. "When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked whether we could find common storytelling themes between East and West.
It turns out it’s not that hard—loyalty, trust, revenge, defiance—those are universal. We market the same game with different messaging tailored to each region. No one has done this effectively yet." Even without a concerted effort, games cross borders, but 4Divinity aims to amplify that flow.
Doust calls the passive approach a "do‑nothing" model: market only in China and hope for a ripple effect abroad, typically yielding an 80/20 split (80 % of sales in China, 20 % elsewhere). Wukong followed that pattern, selling 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million internationally.
The goal now is to shift toward a 60/40 balance, which would dramatically increase total unit sales. "If we could replicate Wukong’s success with a more balanced split, we might be looking at one of the best‑selling games ever, especially given the relatively low development cost," Doust muses. The company envisions a two‑way cultural exchange—"a Silk Road of games," as he puts it—pushing titles from East to West and vice versa.
Currently, the only non‑Chinese title in the portfolio is Guns of Eschaton, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a new studio founded in Cyprus by a former World of Tanks employee. The marketing push for this game began in China, with an early appearance at Bilibili World, Shanghai’s massive anime and pop‑culture convention. No Western publisher typically launches a campaign that early in the Chinese market, but the move paid off: China became the second‑largest wishlist region after the United States. 4Divinity’s massive Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market strategy.
Its titles will debut in Cologne shortly after a showcase at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, ensuring simultaneous exposure in both regions rather than letting Chinese traction build first and then trying to catch up in the West. Beyond promoting individual games, Gamescom serves as 4Divinity’s Western coming‑out party. "We could run separate campaigns for each title, and we do to some extent, but Gamescom lets us consolidate everything into one high‑impact event. We haven’t done much in the West yet, so this is our chance to make noise.
If we’re presenting our whole portfolio, why not go big?" Doust concludes.