In February of the previous year, Sweden’s mobile entertainment titan Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, while already massive, appears to be just the opening move in a broader strategic play. "Last year we articulated a vision that, following the Plarium acquisition, we aim to double our size once more," MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin, told GamesIndustry.biz. "We will continue to nurture organic growth, but to reach that next tier we will need to pursue additional acquisitions." The timeline Redin cites is bold: she expects the doubling to occur within a three‑to‑five‑year window.
The Swedish group has already demonstrated the ability to scale quickly; she noted that MTG set a similar target in 2021 and ultimately tripled its revenue base. A few years ago the mobile market was expanding at double‑digit rates, but growth has since slowed to single‑digit percentages, reflecting a maturing sector. What once resembled a blue‑ocean landscape now looks more like a crowded red sea, where further expansion often means taking market share from rivals—or absorbing them outright.
Acquiring companies is the easier half of the equation; integrating them smoothly is where many firms stumble. The games industry is littered with cautionary tales of acquisitions that resulted in studio closures because of cultural clashes or poorly executed integration plans. MTG, however, believes it has a roadmap to avoid those pitfalls.
Before adding Plarium to its portfolio, MTG already owned a suite of mobile studios, including InnoGames (creator of Forge of Empires), Snowprint (developer of Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (publisher of F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (known for Bloons TD 6), and Futureplay (makers of Merge Gardens). These studios were grouped into two organisational units: the Casual District and the Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between purely casual experiences and hardcore titles. These two districts have recently been rebranded. The Casual District is now called Playsimple, a name borrowed from the India‑based studio behind WordTrip, while the Midcore District has been renamed Playamp.
Playsimple focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, whereas Playamp concentrates on titles that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which currently represent the bulk of MTG’s earnings. Redin says the rebranding is only the surface of a deeper cultural shift. Her goal is to build "one of the leading gaming villages," a phrase chosen deliberately to evoke a sense of community and belonging. "We want to create an environment that people are eager to join and stay in," she explained, emphasizing that employee retention and smooth integration are top priorities for a company that has been on an acquisition binge.
"Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," Redin remarked. "Our people are our greatest asset, but we must also provide a setting where they can thrive. When we acquire a studio, we intend for the founders and their teams to remain on board after the deal closes, because that is when the real story begins and the business can scale further. The only way to make that happen is to foster a workplace they enjoy." Behind the scenes, MTG has been standardising technology and tools across its portfolio—a project Redin began when she became CEO in 2020.
The Plarium acquisition gave the group sufficient scale to roll out this vision comprehensively. "Not every solution needs to be built from scratch for each studio," she said, noting that the standardisation effort has been ongoing but accelerated by the new size of the company. The industry has seen the downside of forced tech uniformity before.
Electronic Arts, for instance, mandated the use of its proprietary Frostbite engine across many studios, leading to significant friction on projects like Mass Effect. Redin is aware of those lessons and has taken a nuanced approach: the technology stack for Playsimple differs markedly from that of Playamp, and each division is being treated separately.
"Playsimple’s tech foundation will become the baseline for any future casual‑district acquisitions," Redin explained. "For the Midcore side, we have selected parts of Plarium’s tech suite to deploy group‑wide, but we are rolling it out selectively to ensure the end result benefits all studios.
We conducted a thorough internal assessment to decide where collaboration on tools makes sense and where it does not." Two of Plarium’s platforms—its GoGame marketing suite and its product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system—are already being used across MTG, with additional features and functionality being added. The aim is to boost the productivity of every studio.
"We want to focus our resources where we get the biggest return," Redin said. "We have fantastic game makers across the group, and with Playamp we intend to supercharge them with a robust tech suite that elevates what they already do." Generative AI is another pillar of MTG’s future strategy.
InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village for some time and is exploring broader applications across its catalogue. Redin observes that AI integration is becoming a common thread throughout the mobile sector.
"Most industry leaders I talk to are having similar conversations about how to embed new technology into our production pipelines," she noted. "Generative AI is dramatically more powerful than any tool we previously had access to. The challenge is finding the right balance: where do we alter our workflow, where do we keep it intact, and where can AI add the most value? Ultimately, it’s about leveraging new tech to make our games more relevant to players and, ideally, to bring new titles to market faster and with higher quality." At MTG, AI is being layered 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. "We need to give our studios the freedom to experiment within an overarching AI framework that defines dos and don’ts," Redin said. "When one team develops something outstanding, we can quickly roll it out across the company." When asked whether AI has become a prerequisite for competing in the fast‑moving mobile market, Redin cautioned against fatalism.
"I often hear the question, will gaming AI replace everything we do? I don’t think so. Creativity remains a uniquely human trait that AI cannot replicate yet. However, if we ignore AI, we risk falling behind competitors.
Embracing AI lets us maintain our creative vision while accelerating development and improving quality." She gave concrete examples of how AI can fill capacity gaps, from coding assistance to art generation and advanced logic handling, describing the technology as a "supercharger" for the studio’s core capabilities. Currently, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue is generated by the Playamp division, and Redin is eager to broaden the studio roster.
"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 as well," she said.
The casual division, now essentially a single studio under the Playsimple banner, still accounts for roughly 20 % of total revenue. Redin hinted at the possibility of a third organisational district in the future, though the exact shape of that unit remains under discussion. "Any new district would build on our core capabilities—whether that’s leveraging our marketing platforms or our data assets," she explained.
Regarding the games themselves, the outlook mirrors the present: the mobile top‑ten list changes little year over year. "Our analysis shows the same games staying at the top, which reinforces our belief in evergreen IPs," Redin said.
While MTG continues to invest in proven titles like Raid, the company also recognises the need for a steady pipeline of fresh games. The challenge of launching successful new titles is evident across the industry. Ilkka Paananen, head of Supercell, 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 from the West. Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, with projects like Squad Busters being discontinued after a brief launch.
Redin acknowledges the difficulty but stresses its importance for maintaining studio DNA. "Plarium has a new title slated for a soft launch early next year.
Investing in new games keeps the creative spark alive and preserves the passion that drives our teams," she said. Looking at the broader market, Redin remains optimistic despite the sector’s maturation. "We have three billion gamers worldwide, so the market is still compelling. We compete for attention with streaming services, social media, and other digital entertainment, but I believe there is still room for growth," she affirmed.
"We won’t see the hyper‑growth of the past; instead, we anticipate low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit growth rates. To exceed that baseline, we must double‑down on strong evergreen IPs while also bringing fresh experiences to players." In summary, MTG’s strategy under Maria Redin blends aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, and AI‑driven efficiency with a continued commitment to both established franchises and the development of new titles. This multifaceted approach aims to double the company’s size within the next few years while fostering a collaborative "gaming village" that can thrive in an increasingly competitive mobile landscape.