Walking the bustling corridors of 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 sizable portion of Halls 6 and 7 will be dominated by a brand many attendees may not recognize: 4Divinity.
"It’s massive by any standard," says Philip Doust, director of 4Divinity’s UK arm, describing the company’s Gamescom footprint. The publisher will feature six titles in the closed‑door B2B zone, five of which will appear in the associated trailer showcases, and four titles will be displayed on the public floor across two separate stands. The larger of those stands covers roughly 800 square metres. 4Divinity isn’t just betting on size; it’s also betting on spectacle.
"We’re working with one of the top booth‑builders at Gamescom," Doust explains. "No expense has been spared." One of the highlights is the exhibit for the 1980s‑inspired RPG *Showa American Story*. The set recreates a version of the Hollywood Hills that, in the game’s alternate timeline, has been renamed Neo Yokohama Hills, a place where Japan rules 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 into to try the game," Doust adds.
The goal is to make the experience as immersive as possible. When Doust says no expense has been spared, he means it. "I can’t quote exact numbers – that would be crass – but we’re talking millions of dollars of investment," he says. "The scale of our footprint alone shows the level of commitment.
It reflects how seriously we’re taking the Western market, something not all Chinese‑based publishers are willing or able to do." So why might you not have heard of a company capable of such spending? 4Divinity is part of a larger Singapore‑based conglomerate, GCL Global Holdings, which also owns a variety of unrelated businesses, including an imitation‑diamond jewellery line. GCL’s roots lie in physical game distribution through a company called Epicsoft, a business that has been operating for nearly two decades. While physical distribution remains a component of the group’s revenue – and will continue as long as Sony produces discs – Doust acknowledges that the market is shrinking.
"We recognise the decline and know we need a stronger digital focus," he says. Enter 4Divinity. Launched in 2022, the label initially acted as a co‑publisher for Western developers seeking entry into Southeast Asian markets. Doust notes that finding a Western title that performs well in China is challenging.
The company succeeded with *Atomic Heart*, which saw a huge Chinese audience, and later with *Stalker 2*. However, those successes were outliers rather than a sustainable growth model. As a Nasdaq‑listed entity, GCL needed a scalable growth engine.
"From a growth perspective, we had to become a global publisher," Doust explains. The shift meant signing Chinese‑developed games for worldwide release. By the time Doust joined in late 2024, the slate already included a few 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 period of expansion.
The emerging catalog shares a common thread: all titles are primarily single‑player experiences lasting 15‑20 hours, priced in the mid‑tier range. This focus on the “squeezed middle” of the market mirrors strategies employed by other firms such as the U.S. company ProbablyMonsters. Doust believes this segment captures current player sentiment.
"People don’t have time for 200‑hour live‑service games, and $80 AAA titles are reserved for a few blockbuster franchises. A $40‑$50 single‑player experience is a sweet spot," he says.
Developing such games is costly – typically $5‑$20 million per title – regardless of whether the studio is in China or the West. Doust points out that a game must sell roughly a million copies just to break even, a target that is increasingly difficult due to discoverability challenges. 4Divinity’s approach also diverges in its emphasis on brand‑new IP.
"Everything you’ll see at Gamescom is fresh IP, even in China, and absolutely new to Western audiences," Doust remarks. Larger publishers are hesitant to gamble on unproven properties; the risk‑averse nature of AAA development has turned many studios into franchise factories.
Only a handful of emerging Chinese companies are willing to take those bets. The turning point for 4Divinity, according to Doust, was the success of *Black Myth: Wukong*. GCL handled the game’s physical PS5 distribution worldwide and acted as publisher in Taiwan.
Because the developer, Game Science, is Chinese, navigating global logistics from Singapore gave 4Divinity a unique advantage. 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 formed console‑ready studios. *Black Myth* was among the first to break through, and more are following.
Doust notes that development costs in China are considerably lower; tax filings suggest Wukong cost about 300 million yuan (roughly $44.6 million) to make, yet it sold 30 million copies, delivering a substantial profit. Chinese gamers are also highly price‑sensitive, a factor that shaped 4Divinity’s regional strategy and informed its belief that Western audiences still crave affordable, high‑quality single‑player games. "There’s a massive drought of supply in this space," Doust says, arguing that many major publishers have retreated from this niche for financial reasons, leaving a gap that 4Divinity aims to fill.
Doust’s mission is to bridge Western demand for fresh, reasonably priced experiences with the supply of Chinese developers who can produce them efficiently. He explains his guiding principle: "What if we can find common themes between East and West? Loyalty, trust, defiance, revenge – these are universal. We market the same asset with different messaging tailored to each region.
No one has done this effectively yet." Even without an aggressive marketing push, games can cross borders organically. Doust calls this the "do‑nothing" model: the publisher markets primarily in China, a ripple effect reaches the West, resulting in an 80/20 sales split (80 % in China, 20 % elsewhere). *Wukong* followed this pattern, selling 20 million units in China and 3‑4 million abroad. The goal for 4Divinity is to shift that balance to a 60/40 split, a modest but meaningful improvement in global reach.
Doust speculates that if *Wukong* had achieved such a ratio, it could have become the best‑selling game of all time relative to its development budget. The publisher’s cross‑border ambition is likened to a modern Silk Road, moving games east‑to‑west and west‑to‑east.
Currently, the only non‑Chinese title in the portfolio is *Guns Of Eschaton*, developed by Eschatology Entertainment, a Cyprus‑based studio founded by a former Wargaming employee. The marketing campaign for that game began in China, with an early showcase at Bilibili World in Shanghai – a move no Western publisher typically makes at such an early stage. The buzz generated there propelled China to become the second‑largest wishlist market after the United States. 4Divinity’s massive Gamescom presence mirrors this dual‑market strategy.
The company plans to debut its games in Cologne shortly after a ChinaJoy showcase in Shanghai, aiming to generate simultaneous momentum in both regions rather than chasing a delayed Western follow‑up. Doust emphasizes that Gamescom serves as the publisher’s Western coming‑out party, allowing it to consolidate multiple game launches into one high‑impact event. "If this is a 4Divinity portfolio play, why not go big?" he concludes.