In February of last year, the Swedish mobile entertainment conglomerate Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, while already a headline‑grabbing move, appears to be only the opening act in a broader expansion playbook, according to MTG's president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the acquisition of Plarium was explicitly tied to a new ambition set the previous year: "After bringing Plarium into the fold we want to double the size of MTG once again." She added that organic growth remains a priority, but that further acquisitions will be essential to hit the target.
The timeline she outlined is aggressive – roughly three to five years to achieve a two‑fold increase in scale. MTG has already demonstrated a capacity for rapid expansion; Redin recalled that a similar ambition launched in 2021 resulted in the company tripling its size within a short period. The mobile gaming sector, once characterised by double‑digit year‑over‑year growth, has now settled into single‑digit expansion as the market matures. What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has turned increasingly competitive, with growth now often requiring the capture of rival market share or outright consolidation through acquisitions.
While buying studios is relatively straightforward, integrating them successfully has historically been a stumbling block for many publishers, leading to studio closures and loss of talent. Redin insists MTG has learned from those cautionary tales and built a clear integration roadmap. Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile developers, including InnoGames (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 grouped into two operational clusters: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between pure casual experiences and more demanding hardcore titles. In the wake of the acquisition, MTG rebranded these clusters as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, while Playamp focuses on titles that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which now represent the bulk of MTG's earnings.
Redin emphasised that the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it reflects a strategic vision to create what she calls "one of the leading gaming villages." The term "village" is deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging, aimed at boosting employee retention and fostering a collaborative culture across the many newly acquired teams. "Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," she said.
"People are our greatest asset, but we must also provide an environment where they can thrive. When we acquire a studio we want the founders and their teams to stay on board, because that is when the real story begins – the scaling of the business. The only way to keep them is to make sure they love the environment we create." A major pillar of the integration effort has been the standardisation of technology and tools across MTG's portfolio.
Redin noted that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; a unified foundation can drive efficiencies and enable faster deployment of new features. This standardisation agenda was launched when she became CEO in 2020, but it was only after the Plarium acquisition that MTG achieved the scale required to roll it out comprehensively. She acknowledged the risks, citing Electronic Arts' problematic push to adopt the Frostbite engine across disparate studios as an example of how forced uniformity can backfire.
To avoid similar pitfalls, MTG has taken a differentiated approach: the Playsimple division will use a tech stack tailored to casual, ad‑driven games, while Playamp will adopt selected components of Plarium's technology suite, deployed selectively after a thorough internal assessment of where shared tools make sense. Plarium's GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data infrastructure have already been rolled out across the group, with MTG adding new features and functionality to enhance their utility. Redin explained that the goal is to concentrate resources where they generate the greatest return, "supercharging" the existing talent pool with a robust, shared technology suite that elevates all studios' output.
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 for some time and plans to expand AI‑driven content creation across its portfolio. Redin observed that AI is becoming embedded in many facets of mobile game production – from A/B testing and graphics creation to quality assurance and analytics.
She stressed that while AI offers unprecedented power, it is intended to augment, not replace, human creativity. "We need to let our studios experiment within an overarching AI framework, share learnings, and quickly propagate successful innovations across the group," she said.
When asked whether AI will eventually make traditional game development obsolete, Redin was cautious. She believes that raw creative talent remains irreplaceable, but also warned that ignoring AI could leave MTG trailing competitors who are already leveraging the technology to accelerate development cycles and improve player engagement. Financially, around 80 % of MTG's revenue now stems from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. Redin expressed enthusiasm for expanding both sides of the business.
She cited Snowprint as a model acquisition and hinted at the possibility of replicating that success with additional studios worldwide. On the casual front, she noted that Playsimple is currently a single studio but still contributes a meaningful share of revenue, and she is open to adding a third "district" to the gaming village – a unit that would likely centre around the shared marketing and data capabilities already in place.
Despite the market's maturity, Redin remains confident about growth prospects. She pointed out that the mobile top‑ten charts change little year over year, underscoring the durability of evergreen IPs.
While MTG continues to invest in proven franchises like Raid, the company also recognises the necessity of a fresh pipeline. Plarium, for example, is preparing to soft‑launch a new title early next year. Redin acknowledged the difficulty of launching new hits – a challenge echoed across the industry, as illustrated by Supercell's recent struggles with its Squad Busters incubator – but she argues that a steady flow of new games is essential to preserve studio DNA, creativity, and long‑term relevance.
Looking ahead, Redin sees a market that, while no longer capable of the hyper‑growth seen a few years ago, still offers low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit expansion opportunities. To exceed that baseline, MTG plans to double down on its strong evergreen portfolio while simultaneously nurturing new titles that can capture emerging player segments. In her view, the combination of strategic acquisitions, unified technology, AI‑enhanced production, and a culture that values both data and creativity positions MTG to thrive in the evolving mobile gaming landscape.