Why an Unknown Publisher Is Investing Millions in Its Gamescom Showcase

Walking 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 company most visitors will not recognize: 4Divinity.

"By any measure, it's massive," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The company is presenting six titles in the private B2B area, five of those in dedicated trailer showcases, and four on the public showfloor across two separate stands.

The larger of the two occupies roughly 800 square metres. Doust emphasizes that the scale is not limited to square footage; the visual spectacle is equally ambitious. "We hired one of the top booth‑building firms at Gamescom and left no stone unturned," he notes.

One of the most striking installations belongs to the 80s‑style pop‑culture RPG *Showa American Story*. The set recreates the Hollywood Hills—rebranded as the Neo‑Yokohama Hills in the game's alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑high Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a fully stocked diner that visitors can walk into to try the game. It’s all about immersion," Doust explains.

When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to give an exact figure, calling it "crass" to disclose, but confirms that the investment runs into the millions. "The sheer size of our presence signals that we are serious about the Western market—something not every Chinese‑based publisher fully appreciates or attempts," he says. The reason many have never heard of 4Divinity lies in its corporate lineage. The publisher is part of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business.

GCL’s roots are in physical game distribution through Epicsoft, a business that has operated for nearly two decades. While physical media remain a component of the group’s revenue—"as long as Sony continues to produce discs, we’ll keep supporting that channel"—the market is clearly in decline, prompting GCL to pivot toward digital and publishing activities.

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 a Western game can thrive in the Chinese market, but he admits those cases were outliers. "We needed a scalable growth model for a Nasdaq‑listed company," he says. The answer was to sign Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release.

Before Doust arrived in late 2024, the team had already secured a handful of titles, including a few 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 characteristics: they are primarily single‑player experiences, run 15‑20 hours, and sit in the mid‑tier price range.

This focus was not pre‑planned but emerged as a coherent strategy aimed at the "squeezed middle" of the market—a segment also being targeted by US‑based ProbablyMonsters. "Players today don’t have the time or desire to invest 200 hours in a live‑service game," Doust observes. "A premium $80 title is reserved for a handful of blockbuster franchises, but a $40‑$50 single‑player adventure is an attractive proposition for many gamers." Developing games in this AA bracket typically costs between $5 million and $20 million.

Whether produced in China or the West, that represents a substantial outlay, and a title often needs to sell around a million copies just to break even. Discoverability is a persistent hurdle, especially in an oversaturated marketplace. What truly sets 4Divinity apart is its commitment to new intellectual property. Every game on display at Gamescom is a fresh IP, many of which have never been released in China, let alone the West.

Larger studios tend to avoid betting on unproven IP, preferring the safety of established franchises. "AAA has become risk‑averse, turning into a franchise‑driven business. Unless you already own a franchise, you’re generally shut out," Doust explains, noting a few emerging Chinese studios as exceptions. The catalyst for 4Divinity’s global pivot was the success of *Black Myth: Wukong*.

GCL handled 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 manage global logistics, creating an opening for GCL’s Singapore hub. The triumph of *Wukong* highlighted a broader opportunity: after China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad returned home and began building console‑ready studios. According to a Chinese tax filing, *Wukong* cost roughly 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to develop and has sold 30 million copies, generating a massive profit margin.

Doust points out that development costs in China are considerably lower and Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive, factors that shape 4Divinity’s regional strategy. Doust’s overarching mission is to bridge Western demand for fresh, reasonably priced experiences with the supply of Chinese developers capable of delivering them cost‑effectively.

"My thesis, when I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, was to find common thematic threads between East and West—loyalty, revenge, defiance—and market the same game with different cultural lenses," he says. He believes few have executed this approach successfully. The company’s current model can be described as a "do‑nothing" business in the West: they market a game in China, a ripple effect generates modest sales abroad, typically an 80/20 split.

*Wukong* sold 20 million copies in China and three‑to‑four million elsewhere, illustrating this pattern. Doust hopes to shift that ratio to 60/40, which would dramatically increase total unit sales and potentially create one of the best‑selling games of all time relative to its modest development budget.

While most of 4Divinity’s catalog originates in China, the firm also backs a Western title, *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. The marketing push for that game began at Bilibili World in Shanghai—an early move no Western publisher typically makes.

The early exposure made China the second‑largest wishlist market for the title, behind the United States, confirming the viability of a two‑way cultural exchange. Thus, the enormous Gamescom presence mirrors the company’s dual‑market strategy. The games are arriving in Cologne shortly after debuting at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, allowing simultaneous momentum in both regions rather than a lagging catch‑up approach.

Gamescom serves as the Western coming‑out party for 4Divinity, consolidating multiple campaigns into one high‑visibility event. "If we’re using Gamescom to showcase our entire portfolio and introduce ourselves to the West, why not go big?" Doust concludes.