In February of the previous year, Sweden’s mobile‑gaming powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. Yet, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive, that deal is merely the opening move in a much larger game plan. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set after the Plarium acquisition, is to double its overall scale once again. “We laid out the vision last year that, following the Plarium deal, we want to double again in size,” she explained.
“We will continue to drive organic growth, but to achieve that we must pursue additional acquisitions.” The timeline for this expansion is bold: Redin aims to hit the doubling target within a three‑to‑five‑year window. She noted that MTG already proved its capacity to scale rapidly, having tripled its size after a similar ambition was announced in 2021. The mobile sector, once characterised by double‑digit growth, has now settled into a more mature, single‑digit expansion phase. What used to be a blue‑ocean of untapped users has turned into a competitive red sea, where growth often means capturing market share from rivals or absorbing them outright.
While buying companies is relatively straightforward, the real challenge lies in integrating those acquisitions without disrupting existing operations—a pitfall that has led many studios to shut down after poorly managed mergers. MTG entered the Plarium deal already owning a portfolio of mobile studios, 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 previously grouped into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District, the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences. The districts have now been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp.
Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp houses the majority of MTG’s revenue‑generating games that rely on in‑app purchases. Redin stresses that the rebranding is only the surface of a deeper cultural shift.
She envisions building “one of the leading gaming villages,” a term she chose deliberately to evoke a sense of community and belonging. The goal is to retain talent and foster integration across the rapidly expanding roster of studios. “Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making,” Redin said. “Our people are our greatest asset, but they need an environment where they can thrive.
When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and their teams to stay on board because that’s when the real story begins and the business can scale further. The only way to make that happen is to create a workplace they enjoy.” A major component of the integration effort has been the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Redin, who became CEO in 2020, launched a tech‑unification agenda that only gained the necessary scale after Plarium joined the fold. “Not everything needs to be built from scratch for each studio,” she explained. “We are rolling out a common tech stack where it makes sense, while allowing flexibility where it doesn’t.” She acknowledges the risks of a one‑size‑fits‑all approach, citing EA’s troubled attempt to force all its studios onto the Frostbite engine as a cautionary tale.
Accordingly, MTG treats the two districts differently. Playsimple’s tech foundation will serve future casual acquisitions, whereas the Midcore (Playamp) side will adopt selected components of Plarium’s technology suite, deployed selectively after a thorough internal assessment of where shared tools add value. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system have already been rolled out across the group, with MTG adding new features to enhance functionality.
Redin believes that these shared resources will amplify the output of every studio. “We want to invest where we get the biggest bang for our buck,” she said. “Our Playamp studios are already strong game makers; we aim to supercharge them with a tech suite that elevates everything they’re already doing.” Artificial intelligence is another pillar of MTG’s modernization. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated assets for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to broaden AI‑driven content creation across its portfolio.
Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in production pipelines throughout the industry. “Generative AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before,” she noted. “We’re all figuring out how to balance it—where to change workflows, where to keep them, and how to use AI to make our games more relevant, faster, and better.” The company’s AI strategy focuses on augmenting existing tools for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics creation, quality assurance, and analytics.
Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the Plarium tech suite for company‑wide use. Redin emphasizes a flexible framework: “Studios can experiment as long as they stay within our overarching AI guidelines. When one team discovers a breakthrough, we can quickly disseminate it across the group.” When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creativity, Redin was cautious.
“I don’t think AI will do everything we do,” she said. “Our talent’s creativity is still irreplaceable. However, if we ignore AI we risk falling behind competitors.
AI can fill capacity gaps—coding, art, logic—and act as a supercharger for our core creative process.” Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by the single casual studio, Playsimple. Redin is eager to broaden both sides. “We acquired Snowprint a few years ago; if we could find five more studios like Snowprint worldwide, that would be fantastic,” she said. She also hinted at the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, potentially built around shared marketing platforms or data capabilities.
Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes the top‑ten mobile games list remains remarkably stable, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen intellectual property. While Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of revenue ahead, the company continues to invest in new titles to keep the pipeline fresh. Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new game early next year. The broader industry context is sobering.
Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen warned that Western mobile developers are “coasting,” noting that only two of the 22 mobile games surpassing $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originated in the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, with the recent failure of Squad Busters.
Redin acknowledges these challenges: “It’s hard to create a hit and scale it,” she said, “but abandoning new‑game investment would erode the creative DNA of our studios.” She sees fresh titles as essential for growth in a market that has shifted from hyper‑growth to modest, single‑digit expansion. “We have three billion gamers worldwide—yes, it’s a compelling market. Competition for attention is fierce, but I still believe there’s room to grow.
To exceed the low‑single‑digit baseline, we must double‑down on evergreen IPs while also delivering new experiences.” In summary, MTG’s roadmap under Maria Redin combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful rebranding, technology standardisation, AI integration, and a balanced portfolio of proven evergreen games and promising new projects—all aimed at doubling the company’s size within the next few years while maintaining a vibrant, collaborative culture for its growing family of studios.