In February of the previous year, Sweden’s mobile‑gaming powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million acquisition of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive, that deal was only the opening move in a much larger expansion plan.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company set a bold vision after the Plarium purchase: to double the size of the MTG group once again. She added that while organic growth remains a priority, achieving the next‑level scale will require “more acquisitions.” The target timeline is aggressive – roughly three to five years – but Redin noted that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to meet lofty goals, pointing to a tripling of the business that began with a 2021 ambition. The mobile sector, once characterized by rapid double‑digit growth, has settled into single‑digit expansion as the market matures. What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users now resembles a crowded, competitive arena where growth often means taking market share from rivals or absorbing them outright.
Acquiring studios is the easy half of the equation; integrating them successfully is where many companies stumble, leading to studio closures and wasted investment. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration.
Before adding Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of 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 – the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences.
The districts have since been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based studio behind WordTrip, focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp concentrates on games that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which now represent the bulk of MTG’s earnings. Redin emphasized that the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change. Her goal is to create “one of the leading gaming villages,” a term she says is intended to foster a sense of belonging among employees.
Retaining talent and ensuring smooth cultural integration are critical when a company expands so rapidly through acquisitions. “People are one of our biggest assets,” Redin explained, “and we must build an environment where they can thrive.
We keep the founders and teams after a purchase because the real story begins when we scale the business together.” A key part of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin has pursued this vision since becoming CEO in 2020, but she noted that the scale achieved after acquiring Plarium finally allowed MTG to roll out the plan fully. The company is careful not to repeat the mistakes of other firms – for example, Electronic Arts’ forced adoption of the Frostbite engine caused considerable friction for studios working on titles like Mass Effect. MTG treats the two districts separately, recognising that Playsimple’s tech stack differs markedly from Playamp’s needs.
For the Midcore side, MTG has selected components of Plarium’s technology suite to share group‑wide, but the rollout is selective and based on thorough internal assessments of where collaboration makes sense. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system are already being deployed across the organisation, with additional features being added to enhance their utility. Redin said the aim is to concentrate resources where they deliver the greatest impact, supercharging the already strong game‑making capabilities within Playamp.
Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for instance, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to broaden AI usage across its portfolio. Redin observed that AI is becoming embedded in many production pipelines throughout the mobile industry.
She described AI as “significantly more powerful than any tool we’ve had before,” but cautioned that the technology must be balanced with human creativity. The company is adding AI layers to existing workflows for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics creation, and quality assurance, and successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the shared Plarium tech suite. When asked whether AI will eventually replace human developers, Redin replied that she does not believe it will.
“Our talent’s creativity is still something AI can’t replicate,” she said, while acknowledging that firms that ignore AI risk falling behind competitors. She sees AI as a catalyst that can alleviate capacity constraints, accelerate development, and improve the overall quality of games.
Revenue-wise, about 80 % of MTG’s income now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. Redin expressed a desire to broaden the studio roster, noting that the company purchased Snowprint a few years ago and would welcome additional studios of similar caliber.
She also hinted at the possibility of creating a third “district” within the gaming village, likely centred around core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes the top‑ten mobile games remain relatively stable year after year, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen IPs. While titles like Raid: Shadow Legends have many years left, the company also recognises the need for a continuous pipeline of new games.
Plarium is preparing to soft‑launch a fresh title early next year, and Redin stressed that investing in new projects preserves the creative DNA of each studio. Industry observers, such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen, warn that Western mobile developers are “coasting,” with only a handful of new billion‑dollar games emerging from the region since 2020. Nonetheless, Redin remains optimistic about the market’s overall potential.
With roughly three billion gamers worldwide, she sees ample opportunity, even if growth rates have settled into low‑ to mid‑single‑digit figures. To exceed that baseline, MTG plans to double down on its strong evergreen franchises while also bringing fresh experiences to market, leveraging both AI‑enhanced workflows and a cohesive, well‑integrated studio network.