In February of the previous year, Sweden’s mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening move 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 set against a clear‑cut ambition: to double the size of MTG once more. “We laid out the vision last year that, after bringing Plarium into the fold, we want to double again,” she said.
“We’ll continue to drive organic growth, but to reach that scale we’ll need to pursue additional acquisitions.” The timeline attached to this target is aggressive. Redin estimates the doubling could be achieved within three to five years. She noted that MTG has already proven capable of rapid expansion – the company set a similar goal in 2021 and, in her words, “I think we tripled.” The mobile gaming sector, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has settled into single‑digit expansion as the market matures.
What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has become a fiercely contested red sea, where growth now often means taking market share from rivals or absorbing them outright. Acquiring studios is the easy part; integrating them successfully is the real challenge, and the industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed mergers that culminated in studio closures. MTG believes it has a roadmap to avoid those pitfalls. 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 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 now been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively.
Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, aggregates free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp houses the majority of MTG’s portfolio, focusing on games that generate revenue through in‑app purchases. Redin says the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a broader effort to build “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging, which she believes is essential for retaining talent after a rapid series of acquisitions.
“Gaming is the best marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making,” she explained. “People are our biggest asset, but we must also 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 the business can scale.” A key component of the integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Redin has been championing this effort since she became CEO in 2020, but she notes that the scale afforded by the Plarium acquisition finally allowed the vision to be rolled out fully. She is careful to point out that the tech needs of Playsimple differ dramatically from those of Playamp, so the two divisions are being equipped with separate stacks.
“Playsimple’s tech foundation will become the baseline for future casual‑district studios,” she said. “For Midcore, we have selected parts of Plarium’s suite to deploy group‑wide, but we’re doing it selectively to ensure the end result benefits every studio.” Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system are already being shared across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. Redin believes that concentrating resources on tools that deliver the biggest return will “supercharge” the existing talent pool and elevate the quality of output across the board. Artificial intelligence is another area where MTG is making significant strides.
InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village for some time and is looking to expand AI‑driven creation across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in many stages of game production, from A/B testing and graphics generation to quality assurance. She stresses that AI should augment, not replace, human creativity: “Our workforce’s imagination is something AI can’t replicate yet.
But if we ignore AI, we’ll fall behind competitors. The goal is to let AI handle repetitive or data‑heavy tasks so our designers can focus on the truly creative work.” MTG’s revenue split reflects the strategic emphasis on midcore titles: roughly 80 % comes from Playamp, with the remaining 20 % generated by the single casual studio currently operating under the Playsimple banner. Redin is eager to broaden both sides of the business. She mentions that Snowprint was acquired a few years ago and that finding “five more Snowprints around the world” would be ideal.
On the casual front, she envisions adding more studios to increase scale, and even hints at the possibility of a third district that would leverage the group’s core capabilities in marketing and data analytics. When asked about the future of mobile gaming, Redin notes that the top‑ten charts have remained remarkably stable, underscoring the importance of evergreen IPs. “Raid Shadow Legends still has many years left in its life,” she said, while also acknowledging that a healthy pipeline of new games is essential to keep the creative engine running. She cites Plarium’s upcoming title, slated for a soft launch early next year, as evidence that MTG continues to invest in fresh experiences.
The broader industry context is sobering. Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen has warned that the Western mobile market is “coasting,” with only two of the 22 games that have surpassed $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, as illustrated by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin agrees that launching successful new titles is challenging, but she argues that abandoning new‑game development would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios.
Looking ahead, Redin remains optimistic about the market’s long‑term prospects. “There are three billion gamers worldwide,” she says.
“The market is still compelling, even though we now compete for attention with streaming services and social media. Growth will likely be modest—low to mid single‑digit—but if we continue to nurture evergreen franchises and bring innovative new games to market, we can exceed that baseline.” In summary, MTG’s roadmap under Maria Redin combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, targeted rebranding, technology standardisation, and AI‑enhanced production.
By balancing the stability of proven evergreen titles with a steady flow of fresh concepts, the Swedish group aims to double its size within the next few years while fostering a collaborative “gaming village” that retains talent and drives sustainable growth.