Strolling through Gamescom, you’ll quickly notice that the most massive, eye‑catching booths belong to household names – Capcom, Xbox, Sega, EA, Ubisoft, and the like. This year, however, a sizable portion of Halls 6 and 7 is dominated by a brand most attendees probably won’t recognize: 4Divinity.
“It’s huge by any measure,” says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the company’s Gamescom footprint. The publisher is presenting six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, 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 those stands covers roughly 800 square metres. Doust emphasizes that the scale is matched by the spectacle: “We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and left no stone unturned.” One of the most striking installations belongs to the 80s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*.
The booth recreates a version of the Hollywood Hills that, in the game’s alternate timeline, has been renamed Neo Yokohama Hills, a place 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 creating an immersive experience,” Doust explains.
When pressed about the cost, Doust is vague but candid: “I can’t give exact numbers – that would be crass – but we’re talking millions of dollars. The sheer size of the space should make that clear.
It shows how seriously we’re taking the Western market, something not all Chinese‑owned firms are prepared to do.” The reason many have never heard of 4Divinity is that it operates under the larger Singapore‑based conglomerate GCL Global Holdings, which also owns a diamond‑style jewellery line and, historically, a physical‑distribution business called Epicsoft. Epicsoft has been moving physical game discs for nearly two decades, a model that is now under pressure following recent Sony announcements about the future of disc media. Doust notes, “Physical distribution remains part of our group’s revenue as long as Sony continues to support discs, but we know it’s a declining segment.
We needed a digital‑first strategy to sustain growth.” 4Divinity was founded in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring games into Southeast Asia. Doust recalls the early successes: “We managed to get *Atomic Heart* into China, which turned out to be a massive market for that title, and then we repeated the formula with *Stalker 2*.
Those wins were outliers, though, and they highlighted the need for a broader, global publishing model.” As a Nasdaq‑listed entity, GCL required a growth engine that could scale worldwide. Doust says, “From a growth perspective we had to become a global publisher.” The company began signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release even before Doust joined in late 2024.
By the time he arrived, the slate already included a few indie projects and the ambitious *Showa American Story*. Since then the portfolio has swelled to eight titles slated for release over the next two years, marking a rapid expansion period.
All of the announced games share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences, run about 15‑20 hours, and sit in the mid‑tier price range. Doust admits this wasn’t a pre‑planned formula but rather a natural convergence that aligns with what he calls “the squeezed middle” of the market – a niche also being explored by US‑based ProbablyMonsters. “Players today don’t want to invest 200 hours into a live‑service game, nor can they justify paying $80 for a single‑player title. A $40‑$50 price point for a solid, story‑driven experience hits a sweet spot,” he says.
Developing such games is costly, regardless of geography. “These projects typically require $5‑$20 million in development budget. To break even you need to sell roughly a million copies, which is a steep hurdle given today’s discoverability challenges.” 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its focus on new intellectual property. Doust points out that every game on display at Gamescom is a fresh IP, many of which are brand‑new to both Chinese and Western audiences.
“Big studios are reluctant to gamble on untested IPs; they prefer to lean on established franchises. AAA has become so risk‑averse that it essentially functions as a franchise machine, unless you’re an emerging Chinese studio willing to take the plunge.” The turning point for the publisher, according to Doust, was the handling of *Black Myth: Wukong*. GCL managed the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as the publisher in Taiwan. Because the developer, Game Science, is a Chinese company, it lacked the infrastructure to handle global logistics, and 4Divinity filled that gap from its Singapore base.
*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 established console‑focused studios.
*Black Myth* was among the first to break through, and more are following. Doust notes that development costs in China are significantly lower – the game reportedly cost around 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) and sold 30 million copies, generating a huge profit margin. “Chinese developers can produce high‑quality games at a fraction of Western costs, and Chinese gamers are very price‑sensitive,” Doust explains. This reality shaped 4Divinity’s strategy: pair affordable, well‑crafted Chinese titles with Western demand for fresh, reasonably priced single‑player experiences.
He describes his guiding philosophy: “When I started working with Jacky Choo, the GCL chairman, I asked ‘what if we could find universal themes that resonate both east and west?’ Themes like loyalty, revenge, defiance – they’re universal. We market the same game with different messaging tailored to each region.” Doust calls the traditional approach of simply marketing a game in China and hoping for a ripple effect in the West the “do‑nothing” business model, which typically yields an 80/20 split in favour of China. *Wukong* sold about 20 million copies in China and three‑to‑four million elsewhere, roughly that ratio.
4Divinity aims to shift the balance to a 60/40 split, which would dramatically increase total sales and could potentially make a title one of the best‑selling games ever when measured against development spend. The publisher is also experimenting with reverse promotion – launching Western games in China first. Their sole non‑Chinese title, *Guns Of Eschaton*, was unveiled at Bilibili World in Shanghai, an anime and pop‑culture expo that no other Western publisher has used so early in a campaign. The early Chinese buzz propelled the game to become the second‑most wished‑for title in China, trailing only the United States, demonstrating the viability of a two‑way Silk‑Road‑style marketing strategy.
Thus, the massive Gamescom presence is a physical manifestation of this cross‑border ambition. By showcasing their slate in Cologne shortly after a ChinaJoy debut, 4Divinity hopes to generate simultaneous momentum in both markets rather than playing catch‑up after a game has already saturated one region. Doust concludes, “Gamescom gives us a single platform to make a loud noise in the West, consolidating all our titles under one big launch.
If we’re committing to a portfolio play, why not go all‑in?”