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 will be dominated by a brand most attendees probably don’t recognize: 4Divinity.
"It’s massive by any standard," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK operation, describing the company’s Gamescom footprint. The publisher will present six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of those in the adjoining trailer showcases, and four games on the public floor across two separate stands, the larger of which spans roughly 800 square metres.
But the scale isn’t limited to square footage; Doust emphasizes that the visual spectacle is equally ambitious. "We’ve hired one of the top booth builders at Gamescom and spared no expense on the construction," he explains. One of the highlights is the showcase for the 80s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*.
The set recreates a 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‑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, experiential environment," Doust adds. When pressed about the cost, Doust declines to give an exact figure, calling it "crass" to disclose, but he confirms that the investment runs into the millions.
"The size of our footprint alone shows we’re committing resources at that level. It reflects how seriously we’re taking the Western market—a commitment not all Chinese firms are willing or able to make." 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 company with almost two decades of experience.
While physical distribution remains a component of GCL’s revenue—"as long as Sony continues to produce discs, we’ll keep it alive"—Doust acknowledges the sector’s decline and the need to pivot toward digital. Enter 4Divinity, founded in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring their titles to Southeast Asia. Doust notes the difficulty of finding a Western game that resonates in China; the publisher succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which performed strongly in the Chinese market, and later replicated that success with *Stalker 2*. However, those titles were outliers rather than a sustainable growth engine for a Nasdaq‑listed group.
Consequently, 4Divinity shifted its focus to global publishing of Chinese‑developed games. The shift began before Doust joined in late 2024, with a handful of indie titles 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 upcoming titles share common traits: they are primarily single‑player experiences, lasting 15–20 hours, and priced in the mid‑tier range. This wasn’t a pre‑planned formula but rather an emerging strategy aimed at the “squeezed middle” of the market—a segment also being targeted by U.S.
studio ProbablyMonsters. Doust believes this is exactly what many gamers currently crave: they lack the time for 200‑hour live‑service games, and they are unwilling to spend $80 on a single title, but they are comfortable paying $40–$50 for a well‑crafted, self‑contained adventure. Developing such games is costly, with budgets ranging from $5 million to $20 million regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West. To break even, a title typically needs to sell about a million copies—a challenging target given today’s discoverability issues.
4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on new intellectual property. Every game displayed at Gamescom is a fresh IP, many of which are brand‑new even to Chinese audiences.
Larger publishers are reluctant to gamble on untested IPs, especially as AAA development has become increasingly risk‑averse and franchise‑driven. In contrast, 4Divinity is comfortable betting on multiple new properties simultaneously. The turning point for the publisher, according to Doust, was the success of *Black Myth: Wukong*. GCL handled the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as the publisher for Taiwan.
Because the developer, Game Science, is a Chinese studio, it lacked the infrastructure to manage global logistics, a gap GCL filled from its Singapore hub. Wukong’s triumph highlighted a broader opportunity. Since China lifted its console ban in 2016, many Chinese developers who had been working abroad returned home and formed console‑focused studios. *Black Myth: Wukong* was among the first to break out, and more are following.
Development costs in China remain considerably lower than in the West; a tax filing suggests Wukong cost roughly 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to produce, yet it has sold around 30 million copies, generating substantial profit. Doust points out that Chinese gamers are highly price‑sensitive, which shapes 4Divinity’s regional strategy and makes it easier to test titles in other markets. He argues that while major publishers have retreated from mid‑budget, single‑player projects for financial reasons, consumer appetite for such experiences remains strong, creating a “massive drought of supply.” His mission is to bridge Western demand for affordable, novel experiences with the supply side of Chinese developers.
"When I started working with Jacky Choo, GCL’s chairman, I asked: what if we could find thematic common ground between East and West? Themes like loyalty, revenge, defiance are universal.
We market the same game with different cultural lenses, which I think no one has done effectively yet," Doust explains. Even without a concerted effort, games cross borders, but Doust describes this organic flow as the company’s "do‑nothing" business model: they market primarily in China, and a ripple effect generates sales abroad, typically an 80/20 split.
*Wukong* followed that pattern, selling about 20 million copies in China and 3–4 million elsewhere. Doust hopes to shift the ratio to 60/40 through more deliberate cross‑border marketing—enough to dramatically increase unit sales without requiring blockbuster budgets.
The publisher is pursuing a two‑way Silk Road strategy: east‑to‑west and west‑to‑east. Currently, its only non‑Chinese title is *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee.
The marketing push for that game began in China, with an early showcase at Bilibili World in Shanghai—an approach no Western publisher typically takes. The early exposure made China the second‑largest wishlist market after the United States. Thus, the massive Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market strategy. 4Divinity’s games will appear in Cologne shortly after a ChinaJoy debut in Shanghai, allowing simultaneous momentum in both regions rather than chasing a Chinese lead‑in after the fact.
Gamescom also serves as the company’s Western coming‑out party, consolidating multiple title campaigns into one high‑impact event. As Doust puts it, "If we’re using Gamescom to introduce our portfolio to the West, why not go big?"