In February of last year, Sweden’s mobile entertainment leader 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 sizable, is only the opening move in what MTG’s chief executive, Maria Redin, describes as a far‑reaching growth agenda. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set after the Plarium acquisition, is to double MTG’s scale once more. “We set out the vision last year that post‑acquisition of Plarium we want to double yet again in size,” she explained.
“And yes, we want to fuel and continue to drive organic growth, but in order to do that, we will need to do more acquisitions.” The timeline Redin proposes is aggressive: she aims to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years. The ambition is not new for the Swedish group – in 2021 MTG declared a similar target and, according to Redin, succeeded in tripling its size. This historical precedent gives her confidence that the next phase is attainable. The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit expansion, has now settled into single‑digit growth as the sector matures.
What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has turned into a crowded, highly competitive arena where gaining market share often means acquiring rivals or absorbing them outright. While buying companies is relatively straightforward, the real challenge lies in integrating them smoothly. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of acquisitions that resulted in studio closures due to poor integration.
MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap. Before the Plarium deal, the group already owned several notable mobile studios, including InnoGames (the 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 organized into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter housing titles that sit between casual and hardcore experiences. Following the acquisition, MTG rebranded these divisions as Playsimple and Playamp.
Playsimple, named after the India‑based studio behind WordTrip, now gathers free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, while Playamp groups together titles that rely on in‑app purchases (IAPs), which constitute the bulk of MTG’s revenue stream. Redin emphasizes that the restructuring goes beyond a cosmetic name change. Her goal is to forge “one of the leading gaming villages,” a phrase meant to evoke a sense of community and belonging for employees.
Retaining talent is crucial for a company that has grown through rapid studio purchases. “People are one of our biggest assets,” she said.
“We need to create an environment where they can thrive, and that means keeping founders and teams on board after an acquisition so the real story can continue to unfold.” A key pillar of the integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across the entire MTG portfolio. Since Redin became CEO in 2020, she has advocated for a unified tech stack, but it was only after Plarium joined the group that MTG reached the scale needed to roll out the vision fully. The company is now working to ensure that not every studio has to reinvent its own infrastructure; instead, common platforms can be shared where appropriate. Redin is careful to note that the tech needs of Playsimple differ dramatically from those of Playamp, so the standardisation effort is being applied selectively.
“Playsimple’s tech stack will become the foundation for future companies we bring into the Casual District,” she explained. “For Midcore, we have chosen parts of Plarium’s suite to use group‑wide, but we are rolling it out in a very selective way to make sure the end game is better for all companies.” Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system are already being deployed across MTG, with additional features and functionality being added to enhance their usefulness. The intention is to boost the output of every studio by providing a shared set of high‑impact tools. Redin summed it up: “We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck.
We have some amazing game makers across the group, and with Playamp we want to super‑charge that with a tech suite they can leverage.” Generative AI is another transformative force within MTG’s strategy. InnoGames, for instance, has been using AI to generate all of the content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is looking to expand AI‑driven creation across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI integration is now a common discussion point across the mobile sector. She describes generative AI as “significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before,” and stresses the need to find the right balance between automation and human creativity.
The company is adding AI layers to existing pipelines for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics production, quality assurance, and analytics. Successful AI solutions developed in individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid diffusion of best practices. “We need to allow our different studios to try different things, as long as they fit into our overarching AI framework,” Redin said. “When one company develops something really good, we make sure we can quickly roll that out on a broader scale.” When asked whether AI has become indispensable for competing in the mobile market, Redin responded cautiously.
She does not believe AI will replace human designers entirely, but she warns that ignoring it would leave MTG lagging behind rivals. “If we don’t embrace AI, we are going to be slower than our competitors,” she said.
“We keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team, but we can leverage completely new levels of technology alongside it.” Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now stems from the Playamp division, while the casual side (Playsimple) contributes roughly 20 %. Redin is eager to broaden both sides of the business. She cites Snowprint as a model, saying that acquiring five more studios with a similar profile would be “fantastic.” On the casual front, she envisions adding more scale to the single studio currently operating under Playsimple. Looking ahead, Redin hints at the possibility of a third district within the gaming village, though its exact focus is still being defined.
It would likely centre around the core capabilities MTG already possesses—marketing platforms and data analytics—offering another avenue for growth. Despite the rapid evolution of the market, the composition of the mobile top‑ten remains remarkably stable. Redin notes that each year the same titles dominate the charts, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen IPs. While Raid: Shadow Legends is expected to generate revenue for many more years, the company also recognises the importance of a fresh pipeline of games.
“We need to continue to have a pipeline of games coming to the market,” she said, acknowledging that developing and scaling new titles is challenging. Industry peers such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen have warned that western mobile developers are “coasting,” with only two of the 22 mobile games that have surpassed $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, as exemplified by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin concedes that creating hit games is hard, but she believes that investing in new titles is essential to preserve the creative DNA of MTG’s studios.
Plarium, for example, has a new game slated for a soft launch early next year, demonstrating the group’s commitment to fresh content. In the broader context of a maturing market, Redin remains optimistic. With three billion gamers worldwide, the mobile sector is still compelling, even if growth rates have settled into low‑single‑digit or mid‑single‑digit figures.
She argues that to exceed those modest rates, companies must double‑down on strong evergreen IPs while also delivering new experiences to players. In summary, MTG’s roadmap under Maria Redin combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, strategic rebranding, technology standardisation, and AI‑enhanced production.
By nurturing both casual and midcore divisions, exploring a potential third district, and balancing the development of proven franchises with the launch of new titles, the Swedish group aims to double its size within the next few years and cement its position as a leading “gaming village” in the global mobile landscape.