Strolling through Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most 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 is dominated by a company many attendees may not 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 presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of them featured in dedicated trailer showcases, and four titles on the public floor across two separate stands.
The larger of those stands occupies roughly 800 square metres. But the scale isn’t limited to square footage; the company is also pulling out all the stops on presentation. "We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and left no stone unturned," Doust adds. One of the most striking displays is for the 1980s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*.
The booth recreates a Hollywood‑hills‑type landscape that, within the game’s alternate timeline, has been renamed Neo‑Yokohama Hills—an imagined future where Japan governs the United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑tall Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, and a fully stocked diner that visitors can walk through while they try the game. It’s all about creating an immersive experience," he explains.
When asked about the cost, Doust is vague but candid: "I can’t quote exact numbers—that would be crass—but we’re talking millions of dollars. The sheer size of our footprint shows the level of investment.
It signals how seriously we’re taking the Western market, something not every Chinese‑owned company is willing or able to do." The reason this relatively unknown publisher can afford such a splash is its corporate backing. 4Divinity is part of Singapore‑based GCL Global Holdings, a conglomerate that also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery line and, historically, a physical‑distribution business called Epicsoft that has been operating for nearly two decades. "Physical distribution is still a big part of our group’s revenue, as long as Sony continues to produce discs," Doust notes, acknowledging the sector’s decline but also its lingering importance. Recognising the need to pivot toward digital, GCL created 4Divinity in 2022 as a co‑publisher for Western developers seeking entry into Southeast Asian markets.
Doust recounts their early successes: "We helped bring Atomic Heart to China, which turned into a huge market for that title, and then we repeated the formula with *Stalker 2*. Those wins were outliers, though, and not enough to sustain the growth GCL expects as a Nasdaq‑listed company." Consequently, the strategy shifted toward global publishing of Chinese‑made games.
Even before Doust joined in late 2024, the team had already signed a handful of titles, including the ambitious *Showa American Story*. Today, the portfolio has swelled to eight games slated for release over the next two years, marking a rapid expansion period.
All of the announced titles share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences lasting 15–20 hours, priced in the mid‑tier range. This focus was not pre‑planned but emerged organically as a coherent strategy aimed at 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 invest 200 hours in a live‑service game," Doust says. "The $80 AAA titles are reserved for a few flagship franchises, but there’s a willingness to spend $40‑$50 on a well‑crafted single‑player adventure." Developing such games is a significant financial gamble.
Doust estimates production budgets between $5 million and $20 million, regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West. "You need to sell about a million copies just to break even, and that’s a tough target given today’s discoverability challenges," he warns. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its commitment to new intellectual property. Every title on display at Gamescom is a fresh IP, many of which are debut releases in both China and the West.
Larger publishers tend to avoid betting on unproven IP, especially given the soaring costs of AAA development, which has turned many studios into franchise‑centric operations. "Unless you already own a franchise, it’s hard to get a seat at the table," Doust observes, noting that a few emerging Chinese companies are beginning to break that mold. The turning point for 4Divinity’s global ambition, 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 bridge the gap for the Chinese developer Game Science.
"Wukong’s success highlighted a broader opportunity for us," Doust explains. Since China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad returned home and started console‑focused studios. *Wukong* was one of the first high‑profile releases from this new wave, and its performance—over 30 million copies sold after a development cost of roughly ¥300 million (about $44.6 million)—demonstrated the profitability of the model. Chinese development costs are generally lower, and Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive, which shapes 4Divinity’s regional strategy.
Doust believes there is a “massive drought of supply” in the West for affordable, high‑quality single‑player games, and Chinese studios are well‑positioned to fill that gap. His mission is to align Western demand for fresh experiences that are affordable and concise with the supply side that Chinese developers can provide.
"When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked whether we could find common themes between East and West. It turns out you can—loyalty, trust, revenge, defiance—those universal ideas let us market the same game with different cultural lenses," Doust says.
He argues that no one has yet executed this cross‑cultural marketing effectively. Even without a concerted effort, games tend to cross borders, but 4Divinity wants to accelerate that flow. Doust describes their “do‑nothing” business model: they market a game in China, a ripple effect carries it to the West, resulting in an 80/20 sales split (80 % in China, 20 % elsewhere).
*Wukong* followed that pattern, selling 20 million copies in China and roughly three to four million abroad. Doust hopes to shift that balance to a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase total unit sales and could, in theory, make a title the best‑selling game of all time relative to its modest development budget. The company is also experimenting in the opposite direction—bringing Western titles to China. Their sole non‑Chinese game at the moment is *Guns of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee.
The first promotional push for that game was at Bilibili World, a massive anime and pop‑culture expo in Shanghai. "No Western publisher launches a game there that early," Doust notes. The strategy paid off: China quickly became the second‑largest wishlist market for the title, trailing only the United States.
The expansive Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market approach. 4Divinity is showcasing its games in Cologne just weeks after debuting them at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, aiming to generate simultaneous buzz in both regions rather than chasing a delayed Western follow‑up.
Doust explains that Gamescom serves as the Western “coming‑out party” for the publisher. "We could run individual campaigns for each game, and we do to some extent, but Gamescom lets us bundle everything into one high‑impact event.
Since we haven’t done much in the West yet, this is our chance to make a splash." In short, 4Divinity’s massive investment in Gamescom is not a vanity project; it’s a strategic statement that the company is serious about bridging the East‑West gap, promoting new IP, and redefining the economics of mid‑tier, single‑player games. By leveraging its parent’s distribution heritage, its access to cost‑effective Chinese development, and a bold marketing playbook, the publisher hopes to rewrite the rules of global game publishing.