In February of the previous year, the Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection game Raid: Shadow Legends. That transaction, while already massive, is only the opening move in a broader expansion agenda, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set out after the Plarium deal, is to double the size of the group once more. “We set out the vision last year that post‑acquisition of Plarium we want to double yet again in size,” she explained, adding that organic growth will continue but will need to be complemented by further acquisitions.
The timeline she outlined is aggressive: the goal is to achieve the size increase within roughly three to five years. Redin noted that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to meet ambitious targets, recalling that a similar ambition in 2021 resulted in the company tripling its scale. The mobile gaming market, which a few years ago was expanding at double‑digit rates, has now settled into single‑digit growth as the sector matures. What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has become a crowded, highly competitive arena where gaining market share often means either taking customers from rivals or absorbing those rivals outright.
Acquisitions are therefore a logical route, but the real challenge lies in integrating the newly bought studios without disrupting their creative output. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed integrations that have led to studio closures, so MTG has devised a systematic plan to avoid those pitfalls. Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile developers, including InnoGames (known for Forge of Empires), Snowprint (creator of Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (developer of F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (behind Bloons TD 6), and Futureplay (maker of Merge Gardens).
These studios were originally grouped into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between purely casual experiences and more hardcore, demanding titles. In the latest rebranding effort, the Casual District has been renamed Playsimple, after the India‑based studio that produced WordTrip, while the Midcore District is now called Playamp. Playsimple focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, whereas Playamp houses titles that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which constitute the bulk of MTG’s earnings. Redin emphasized that the rebranding goes far beyond a name change.
She wants MTG to become “one of the leading gaming villages,” a phrase deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging. The aim is to foster employee retention and smooth integration across the rapidly expanding roster of studios. “Gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions,” she said.
“People are one of our biggest assets, but we also need to create an environment where they can thrive. When we acquire a company, 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.” A key component of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Redin explained that not every piece of software needs to be built from scratch for each studio; instead, a common tech stack can be rolled out once the organisation reaches sufficient scale. The Plarium acquisition provided that scale, allowing MTG to implement its vision more fully. While tech standardisation can be risky – EA’s push for the Frostbite engine across its studios famously caused major headaches for teams working on titles like Mass Effect – MTG is taking a nuanced approach. The tools required for Playsimple’s casual games differ dramatically from those needed for Playamp’s midcore titles, so the two divisions are being equipped with separate, specialised technology suites.
For the Midcore side, MTG has selected portions of Plarium’s proprietary tech suite to share across the group, but the rollout is being handled selectively to ensure each studio benefits without unnecessary disruption. Redin said a thorough internal assessment identified where collaboration on tools makes sense and where it does not. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data platform are already being used throughout MTG, and the company is adding new features and functionality to enhance them further. The objective is to maximise the return on investment in technology by giving studios the best possible foundation for development and monetisation.
Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is making significant strides. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI to generate all of the content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is looking to expand AI‑driven content creation across its other games.
Redin noted that AI is being woven into many parts of the production pipeline – from A/B testing and graphics creation to quality assurance – and that successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium‑derived tech suite. She stressed that while AI can dramatically increase efficiency and speed to market, the creative spark of human talent remains irreplaceable. “If we don’t embrace AI, we will fall behind our competitors,” she warned, “but AI should augment, not replace, the imagination and vision of our teams.” 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 both sides of the business. She cited Snowprint as a model studio and suggested that finding several more studios with a similar profile would be “fantastic.” On the casual side, the company currently operates a single studio under the Playsimple banner but hopes to increase scale there as well.
Looking ahead, Redin hinted at the possibility of adding a third “district” to the gaming village, one that would likely centre around the core capabilities the group already possesses – perhaps leveraging existing marketing platforms or data assets. When asked about the future of mobile gaming titles, Redin observed that the top‑ten games in the market have remained remarkably stable over the years. MTG’s strategy, therefore, continues to focus on evergreen intellectual properties that can generate revenue for many years, such as Raid: Shadow Legends.
Nevertheless, she stressed that new game development remains essential to keep the creative DNA of the studios alive and to sustain a pipeline of fresh experiences for players. Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new title early next year.
The broader industry context is sobering. Supercell’s CEO Ilkka Paananen has warned that the western mobile market is “coasting,” noting that only two of the 22 mobile games that have surpassed $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originated in the West.
Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, with projects like Squad Busters being discontinued after a brief launch. Redin acknowledged these challenges, stating that creating and scaling a hit game is difficult for any company. However, she believes that investing in both proven evergreen IPs and new titles is the only way to sustain growth in a market that now delivers low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit expansion rates. In summary, MTG’s roadmap under Maria Redin’s leadership combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful rebranding, technology standardisation, and strategic AI adoption to double the company’s size within a few years.
By building a cohesive "gaming village" that values both the creative talent of its studios and the efficiencies of shared tools, MTG aims to stay competitive in a maturing mobile landscape while continuing to deliver both beloved legacy games and innovative new experiences.