Strolling through 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 brand many attendees may not recognize: 4Divinity.
"By any measure, the space is massive," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The company is presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of them featured in trailer showcases, and four titles on the public floor across two separate stands, the larger of which covers roughly 800 square metres. The ambition goes beyond sheer size; Doust emphasizes the visual spectacle, noting that the firm hired one of the event’s top booth constructors and spared no expense. One of the showcase areas, dedicated to the 1980s‑inspired RPG "Showa American Story," recreates a stylised version of 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‑tall Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a 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 of dollars. He says the scale of the booth signals how seriously 4Divinity is taking the Western market—something he notes is not a universal priority among Chinese firms.
The reason many have never heard of the company is that 4Divinity is part of a larger Singapore‑based conglomerate, GCL Global Holdings, which also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery business. GCL’s roots lie in a physical‑distribution operation called Epicsoft, a business that has existed for nearly two decades. While disc production remains a component of the group’s revenue, Doust acknowledges that the market is shrinking and that the company must pivot toward digital‑first models. 4Divinity itself launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring games to Southeast Asia.
Doust recalls that the first major success was "Atomic Heart," which performed strongly in China, followed by "Stalker 2." Those titles, however, were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine for a Nasdaq‑listed group. Consequently, the strategy shifted toward global publishing of Chinese‑made games.
Even before Doust joined in late 2024, the firm had signed a handful of titles—including a few indie projects and the ambitious "Showa American Story." Since then the portfolio has expanded to eight games slated for release over the next two years, marking a rapid growth phase. 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 so‑called "squeezed middle" mirrors a similar approach taken by US publisher ProbablyMonsters. Doust argues that today’s gamers often lack the time for 200‑hour live‑service games, and while a handful of blockbuster AAA releases command $80 price tags, many are willing to spend $40‑$50 for a well‑crafted single‑player adventure.
Developing such games is costly, typically requiring $5‑$20 million in production budgets, whether in China or the West. Doust points out that to break even a title must sell roughly a million copies—a challenging target given the crowded marketplace and discoverability hurdles.
4Divinity’s differentiation goes beyond pricing. Every game it is displaying at Gamescom is a brand‑new intellectual property, both for Chinese audiences and for Western players. Larger publishers are increasingly risk‑averse, focusing on established franchises rather than betting on fresh IPs, especially as development costs soar. The turning point for the company, according to Doust, was the handling of "Black Myth: Wukong." GCL managed the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan, leveraging its Singapore base to assist the Chinese developer Game Science.
The success of Wukong highlighted the untapped potential of Chinese studios that, following the lifting of the console ban in 2016, began creating console‑ready titles for both domestic and overseas markets. Wukong’s development cost, according to a Chinese tax filing, was just over 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million), yet by June it had sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit margin. Doust notes that production costs in China are considerably lower and that Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive, which shapes 4Divinity’s strategy of offering affordable, high‑quality experiences.
His broader thesis is to bridge Western demand for novel, reasonably priced games with the supply of Chinese developers who can produce them efficiently. He believes universal themes—loyalty, trust, defiance, revenge—translate across cultures, allowing a single marketing asset to be repurposed with different messaging for each region.
Doust describes a “do‑nothing” business model where a game is primarily marketed in China, creating a ripple effect that generates modest sales in the West, typically an 80/20 split. Wukong followed this pattern, selling 20 million copies in China and about three to four million elsewhere.
He envisions shifting that balance to a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase total unit sales and could potentially make a title one of the best‑selling games of all time relative to its development budget. The company is also experimenting with reverse promotion—bringing Western titles to China first.
Their sole non‑Chinese game, "Guns Of Eschaton," was launched by a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. After the announcement, 4Divinity took the game to Bilibili World, a massive anime and pop‑culture convention in Shanghai, a move rarely seen from Western publishers at such an early stage.
The early buzz propelled China to become the second‑largest wishlist market for the title after the United States. Thus, the colossal Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market strategy.
The games will appear in Cologne shortly after a showcase at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, allowing simultaneous exposure in both territories rather than a staggered rollout that would force the company to chase after a market where the title has already peaked. For 4Divinity, Gamescom serves as a Western coming‑out party. While they continue to run individual campaigns for each title, the trade show offers a platform to consolidate all efforts 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?"