In February of the previous year, Sweden’s mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive, that deal was only the opening move of a much larger expansion plan.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set after the Plarium acquisition, is to double its overall size again within roughly three to five years. "We set out the vision last year that post‑acquisition of Plarium we want to double yet again in size," she said. "And yes, we want to fuel and continue to drive organic growth, but in order to do that, we will need to do more acquisitions." The timeline is aggressive, but Redin points out that MTG has already demonstrated a similar capacity for rapid scaling. In 2021 the group announced a comparable goal and, as she notes, the company actually tripled its size during that period.
The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically over the past few years. What was once a blue‑ocean market with double‑digit growth has slowed to single‑digit expansion, signalling a mature, highly competitive environment. Growth now often means taking market share from rivals or, more commonly, absorbing them outright.
Acquiring studios is the easy part; integrating them successfully is notoriously difficult. The industry is littered with examples of poorly managed mergers that resulted in studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration.
Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile developers, including InnoGames (creator of Forge of Empires), Snowprint (Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6) and Futureplay (Merge Gardens). These studios were originally grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences. The districts have now been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp respectively.
Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp houses the in‑app‑purchase‑driven games that make up the bulk of MTG’s revenue. Redin says the rebranding is more than cosmetic; it is intended to forge what she calls “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term is meant to evoke a sense of community that encourages talent to stay and thrive. "I always say gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions. People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment for them to thrive in," she explained.
"We buy our companies, which also means that we want the founders and the teams to stay on board post‑acquisition, because that’s when the true exciting story should start and you continue to scale the businesses. The only way you can make sure they stay is if you create an environment which they enjoy." A major integration effort underway is the standardisation of technology and tools across the MTG group. Redin notes that not every piece of software needs to be built from scratch for each studio. The push for a common tech stack began when she became CEO in 2020, but the scale provided by the Plarium deal finally allowed the vision to be rolled out fully.
She acknowledges the risks, citing EA’s problematic rollout of the Frostbite engine across disparate studios as a cautionary tale. However, MTG is treating the two districts differently. "Playsimple and their tech stack is going to be the foundation for future companies we onboard in the Casual District. For Midcore, we have chosen some of the Plarium tech suite to use group‑wide, but we’re doing the rollout in a very selective way to make sure the end game is better for all the companies," Redin said.
An internal assessment determined where shared tools make sense and where bespoke solutions are required. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system have already been deployed across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. The goal is to maximise impact with the least waste of resources.
"We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck," Redin added. "We have some amazing game makers across the group.
What we want to do now with Playamp is to really super‑charge that with a tech suite they can leverage, elevating everything that was already done." Artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, is another pillar of the group’s strategy. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is exploring broader AI‑driven content creation. Redin says AI is being woven into many production pipelines, from A/B testing and graphics generation to quality assurance.
Successful AI tools from individual studios are being incorporated into the shared Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid diffusion of best practices. When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creators, Redin cautioned against such deterministic thinking. "I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do? And I actually don’t think so.
What is important is that our talent has amazing creativity, and that doesn’t sit yet within AI," she said. Nonetheless, she stresses that embracing AI is essential to keep pace with competitors and to accelerate development cycles. Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, while the casual side (Playsimple) contributes roughly 20 %. Redin is eager to broaden both sides, noting that the group recently acquired Snowprint and would welcome additional studios of a similar profile.
She also hinted at a possible third district that would build on existing marketing and data capabilities, though details remain tentative. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes evergreen IPs will continue to dominate the top‑ten mobile charts, which have shown little turnover in recent years. The company plans to keep investing in proven titles like Raid, while also nurturing a pipeline of new games.
She acknowledges the difficulty of launching fresh hits, citing Supercell’s recent struggles with new titles, but argues that a steady flow of new IPs is vital for creative vitality and long‑term growth. In summary, MTG’s roadmap combines aggressive M&A, thoughtful integration, unified technology platforms, and a balanced AI strategy to double its size within the next few years. Redin’s vision of a cohesive "gaming village" aims to retain talent, streamline development, and keep the portfolio both deep in evergreen successes and fresh with innovative new experiences.