In February of last year, Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the wildly popular hero‑collecting game Raid: Shadow Legends. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive, that deal is only the opening move in a much larger playbook. "We laid out a vision last year that, after bringing Plarium into the fold, we want to double our size again," Redin told GamesIndustry.biz.
"Organic growth will still be a priority, but to hit that target we’ll need to pursue further acquisitions." The timeline is aggressive: Redin aims to achieve the doubling within three to five years. She noted that MTG set a similar ambition in 2021 and, in her words, "I think we tripled" during that period, indicating the company already has a track record of rapid expansion.
The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has now settled into single‑digit gains as the sector matures. What was once a blue ocean has turned decidedly red, meaning future growth will likely come from capturing competitors’ market share—or outright absorbing them. Acquiring studios is the easy part; integrating them is where many firms stumble. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of botched mergers that end in studio closures.
MTG, however, believes it has a clear integration plan. Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned several mobile developers, including InnoGames (Forge of Empires), Snowprint (Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6) and Futureplay (Merge Gardens). These studios were grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District (midcore referring to games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences).
The districts have now been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the bulk of MTG’s portfolio—games that rely on in‑app purchases. Redin says the rebranding is more than cosmetic; the goal is to create "one of the leading gaming villages." The term "village" is intentional, meant to foster a sense of community that encourages talent retention and smooth integration—critical for a company that has been on an acquisition spree. "Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," she explained.
"People are our greatest asset, but they only thrive in the right environment. 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 we can scale the business. The only way to ensure they stay is to build a workplace they enjoy." Behind the scenes, MTG has been standardising technology and tools across its portfolio. Redin notes that this effort began when she became CEO in 2020, but the scale provided by the Plarium acquisition finally allowed the company to roll out the vision fully.
She cautions that tech standardisation must be nuanced; the tools required for Playsimple differ dramatically from those needed for Playamp, so the two divisions are being treated separately. "Playsimple’s tech stack will become the foundation for future casual‑district studios," Redin said.
"For midcore, we’ve selected parts of Plarium’s suite to roll out group‑wide, but we’re doing it selectively to ensure the end result benefits every company. We’ve conducted a thorough internal assessment to decide where collaboration on tools makes sense and where it does not." Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system are already being used across MTG, and the company is adding new features to enhance them. Redin emphasizes that the aim is to maximise return on investment by giving Playamp studios a powerful, shared tech suite that amplifies what they already do well. Generative AI is another area where MTG is investing heavily.
InnoGames, for example, has been generating all content for its mobile title Sunrise Village with AI for some time and is looking to expand that capability across its catalogue. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in production pipelines throughout the mobile sector. "Most industry peers are having similar conversations about how to adopt new technology," she said.
"Generative AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before. The challenge is finding the right balance—where to change workflows, where to keep them, and where AI can add the most value. Ultimately, it’s about using new tech to make our games more relevant and to bring new titles to market faster and, ideally, better." MTG’s AI strategy focuses on layering AI onto existing tools for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics creation, quality assurance, and more. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid dissemination of best practices.
When asked whether AI will make traditional game development obsolete, Redin responded that creativity remains uniquely human. "I don’t think AI will replace what our talent does. However, if we ignore AI we’ll fall behind competitors.
By pairing our teams' creativity with cutting‑edge technology, we can accelerate development and overcome capacity constraints," she explained, citing coding, art, and advanced logic as areas where AI can act as a force multiplier. Currently, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue comes from the Playamp division, with the casual side contributing roughly 20 %. Redin is eager to broaden the roster of studios. "We acquired Snowprint a few years ago; finding five more studios like Snowprint worldwide would be fantastic.
On the casual side we’d like to add more scale," she said. At present Playsimple is the sole casual studio, yet it already accounts for a fifth of revenue. Looking ahead, Redin hints at the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, though the exact focus is still under discussion.
"It would likely build on our core capabilities—either leveraging our marketing platforms or our data assets," she noted. Despite the market’s maturity, the top‑ten mobile games list remains relatively static, reinforcing MTG’s belief in evergreen IPs.
"Our thesis from day one has been to back long‑lived properties," Redin said. While Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of potential, the company also recognises the need for a fresh pipeline. Plarium is preparing a new title for soft launch early next year.
Industry observers such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen warn that Western mobile developers are "coasting," with only two of the 22 games that have generated over $1 billion since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, as demonstrated by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin acknowledges the difficulty of creating hit games but stresses that abandoning new‑title development would erode the creative DNA of its studios. "Investing in new games keeps the passion and drive alive," she said.
In the broader context of a maturing market, Redin remains optimistic. "There are three billion gamers worldwide, so the market is still compelling.
We compete for attention with streaming services and social media, but I believe growth is still possible," she concluded. "We won’t see the hyper‑growth of the past, but low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit growth is realistic.
To exceed that, we must continue to nurture evergreen IPs while also bringing fresh experiences to players."