As you wander the bustling corridors of Gamescom, the most 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 company many attendees may not recognize – 4Divinity.
"It’s massive by any measure," explains Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK division, describing the publisher’s Gamescom footprint. The company is showcasing six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will appear in the linked trailer showcases, and four games will be presented on the public floor across two separate stands.
The larger of the two spans roughly 800 square metres. Doust stresses that the scale is matched by the ambition of the presentation. "We’ve hired one of the top‑rated booth constructors at Gamescom and spared no cost on the build," he says.
One of the highlighted experiences, the 80s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*, transports visitors to a meticulously recreated version of the Hollywood Hills – re‑branded as the Neo‑Yokohama Hills in the game’s alternate timeline where Japan rules the United States. "We built a seven‑metre‑high Golden Gate Bridge adorned with Japanese lanterns, a fully stocked diner you can walk into to try the game – it’s all about immersion," Doust adds.
When pressed about the budget, Doust declines to name exact numbers, calling it “crass,” but confirms that the investment runs into the millions of dollars. "The sheer size of our footprint shows we are committing resources at that level. It signals how seriously we are taking the Western market – something not every Chinese‑owned publisher is prepared to do." The reason this publisher can afford such a splurge may be unclear to many.
4Divinity is one of several subsidiaries under the Singapore‑based conglomerate GCL Global Holdings, which also owns an imitation‑diamond jewellery line. GCL’s roots lie in a traditional physical‑media distribution business called Epicsoft, a venture that has been operational for almost two decades. "Physical distribution still forms a core part of our group’s revenue, as long as Sony continues to produce discs," says Doust, acknowledging that the market is contracting.
"We know it will decline, so we have been shifting focus toward digital channels." 4Divinity itself launched in 2022 as a co‑publisher helping Western developers bring their games into Southeast Asia. Doust notes that finding a Western title that resonates in the Chinese market is a daunting task.
The company succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which sold heavily in China, and then replicated the formula with *Stalker 2*. However, those successes were outliers. "Those titles alone could not sustain the growth needed by a Nasdaq‑listed group like GCL," Doust explains.
"We needed a truly global publishing model." The answer was to start acquiring Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the firm had already signed a handful of projects, including smaller indie titles and the ambitious *Showa American Story*. Since then the portfolio has swelled to eight games slated for launch over the next two years, marking a rapid expansion period. All of the titles share common characteristics: they are primarily single‑player experiences, run about 15–20 hours, and sit in the mid‑tier price bracket.
This focus on the “squeezed middle” of the market mirrors a strategy pursued by other publishers such as the US‑based ProbablyMonsters. Doust believes this segment reflects current player preferences.
"People don’t have the time or desire to invest 200 hours into a live‑service game. The premium $80‑plus titles are limited to a few flagship franchises, but there is a willingness to spend $40‑$50 on a well‑crafted single‑player adventure." Developing such games is costly, regardless of geography.
Doust estimates typical budgets range from $5 million to $20 million. To break even, a game would need to sell about a million copies – a challenging target given the crowded marketplace and discoverability issues. What sets 4Divinity apart is its emphasis on new IP.
"Everything you’ll see from us at Gamescom is brand‑new, both in China and the West," Doust says. Larger publishers are generally risk‑averse, sticking to established franchises because development costs have skyrocketed.
By contrast, 4Divinity is willing to bet on fresh concepts, especially those emerging from Chinese studios, which can produce high‑quality games at a fraction of Western development costs. The turning point for the publisher, according to Doust, was the handling of *Black Myth: Wukong*. GCL managed the game’s global physical PS5 distribution and acted as the Taiwanese publisher.
Because the developer, Game Science, is a Chinese company, it needed a partner with the right international logistics, a role GCL filled from its Singapore base. *Wukong* demonstrated the broader opportunity presented by the lifting of China’s console ban in 2016.
Many Chinese developers who had been working on Western projects returned home and set up console‑focused studios. *Black Myth* was among the first high‑profile successes, and more are now emerging.
Doust notes that development costs in China are significantly lower; a tax filing suggests the game cost roughly 300 million yuan (about $44.6 million) to create, yet it sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit. Chinese gamers are also highly price‑sensitive, which influences 4Divinity’s pricing strategy and makes it easier to test titles in other markets. Doust argues that major publishers have largely retreated from this segment for financial reasons, but consumer interest remains strong, creating a “massive drought of supply.” His mission is to bridge the gap between Western demand for affordable, innovative experiences and the supply of such games from Chinese developers. "When I started working with Jacky Choo, the GCL chairman, my thesis was ‘what if we could find common thematic threads between East and West?’ Themes like loyalty, defiance, revenge resonate everywhere.
We market the same asset with a different narrative lens for each region. No one has done this effectively, in my view." Even without a concerted effort, games will cross borders, but 4Divinity prefers a proactive approach.
Doust calls the passive model a "do‑nothing" business: you market in China, a ripple effect generates modest sales abroad, typically an 80/20 split. *Wukong* exemplified this, selling 20 million units in China and roughly 3‑4 million elsewhere. 4Divinity aims to shift that balance toward a 60/40 split – not an unrealistic ambition, but a meaningful improvement in global sales volume. The publisher is working both east‑to‑west and west‑to‑east, likening the effort to a modern Silk Road.
Its only non‑Chinese developed game currently is *Guns Of Eschaton*, created by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. The marketing push for that title began in China, with an early debut at Bilibili World in Shanghai – a move no Western publisher has made at such an early stage. The campaign generated enough buzz that China became the second‑largest wishlist market behind the United States.
The massive Gamescom presence is a physical manifestation of this dual‑market strategy. The publisher’s titles will appear in Cologne just weeks after a showcase at ChinaJoy in Shanghai, allowing simultaneous exposure in both regions. Doust explains that instead of waiting for a game to gain traction in China and then scrambling to catch up in the West, 4Divinity launches in both markets concurrently.
Gamescom also serves as the company’s western coming‑out party. While individual game campaigns continue, the trade show offers a single platform to amplify the entire portfolio and the brand itself. "If this is a 4Divinity portfolio push, why not go big?" Doust concludes, noting that the scale of the booth reflects the ambition to announce themselves loudly on the global stage.