Walking through Gamescom, the massive, 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 occupied by a company most attendees probably haven’t heard of: 4Divinity.
"It’s gigantic by any measure," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The company is presenting six titles in the closed B2B area, 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 which covers 800 square metres. The ambition extends beyond sheer size to the level of spectacle. "We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and spared no expense," Doust adds.
One of the showcases, for the 80s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*, features a replica of the Hollywood Hills – re‑imagined as the Neo‑Yokohama Hills in an alternate timeline where Japan governs the United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑high Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a diner you can walk into to start playing. It’s all designed to be an immersive experience," he explains. When asked about the cost, Doust refuses to give an exact figure, calling it "crass," but confirms that the investment runs into the millions.
"The scale of our presence alone shows we’re committing resources at that level. It signals how seriously we’re taking the Western market – something not every Chinese‑owned publisher chooses to do or even knows how to accomplish." The reason this relatively unknown firm can afford such a spend is its corporate backing.
4Divinity is part of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a diversified group that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business. GCL’s roots lie in physical game distribution through Epicsoft, a business that has operated for nearly two decades.
While physical distribution remains a component – "as long as Sony continues to produce discs," Doust notes – the company acknowledges the sector’s decline and the need to pivot toward digital. 4Divinity was launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring games to Southeast Asia. Doust points out that finding a Western title that resonates in China is challenging.
The publisher succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which performed strongly in the Chinese market, and later with *Stalker 2*. However, those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine for a Nasdaq‑listed group.
"From a growth standpoint we needed a truly global publishing model," Doust says, prompting 4Divinity to start signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. The portfolio has expanded rapidly. Before Doust joined in late 2024, the company had already secured a handful of titles, including a few indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*. Now the slate includes 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. This focus on the "squeezed middle" of the market mirrors strategies employed by other independent publishers such as ProbablyMonsters. Doust believes this segment captures current player desires: "People don’t have time for 200‑hour live‑service games, and they’re not willing to spend $80 on a single‑player title unless it’s a blockbuster. A $40‑$50 price point for a well‑crafted experience hits the sweet spot." Developing games in this AA bracket typically costs between $5 million and $20 million, regardless of geography.
To break even, a title must sell roughly a million copies, a daunting target given today’s discoverability challenges. Doust notes that many publishers shy away from this space, but 4Divinity sees an opportunity because supply is thin.
Another differentiator is the emphasis on brand‑new intellectual property. "Everything you’ll see from us at Gamescom is fresh IP – even in China, it’s new, and absolutely new to the West," he says.
Larger studios are increasingly risk‑averse, focusing on established franchises, especially in the AAA arena where development costs have ballooned. By contrast, 4Divinity is willing to gamble on multiple new IPs simultaneously. The catalyst for the company’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, allowing 4Divinity to step in from its Singapore base. *Wukong* demonstrated the untapped potential of Chinese developers now able to work on consoles after the 2016 ban lift. Many Chinese studios that had been creating games for Western markets returned home, forming new console‑ready teams. Doust estimates the development budget at around 300 million yuan (approximately $44.6 million).
The game reportedly sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit margin. Lower production costs and price‑sensitive Chinese gamers shape 4Divinity’s approach. The publisher aims to bridge Western demand for affordable, high‑quality single‑player experiences with Chinese developers’ capacity to deliver them at a lower cost. "My thesis with GCL’s chairman Jacky Choo was to find common storytelling themes – loyalty, revenge, defiance – that resonate globally, then market the same asset with a culturally tailored message," Doust explains.
He describes a "do‑nothing" model where the company focuses marketing efforts primarily in China, allowing a natural ripple effect to the West, typically resulting in an 80/20 sales split – 80 % in China, 20 % elsewhere. *Wukong* followed this pattern, selling about 20 million copies in China and 3‑4 million internationally. Doust hopes to shift that ratio toward a 60/40 balance, which would dramatically increase overall unit sales and could potentially create one of the best‑selling games of all time relative to its modest development budget. The cross‑border strategy is bidirectional.
While most of the portfolio originates in China, 4Divinity also promotes non‑Chinese titles abroad. Their sole non‑Chinese game, *Guns Of Eschaton*, was developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. The marketing launch began at Bilibili World in Shanghai, an early move no Western publisher typically makes.
The early buzz elevated China to the game’s second‑largest wishlist market after the United States. The massive Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market approach.
By showcasing the titles in Cologne shortly after a debut at ChinaJoy, 4Divinity aims to generate simultaneous momentum in both regions rather than waiting for Chinese success to trickle westward. Gamescom serves as the company’s Western coming‑out party, allowing it to consolidate multiple campaigns into a single high‑impact event. As Doust puts it, "If we’re using Gamescom to introduce our portfolio and ourselves to the West, why not go big?"