In February of last year, the Swedish 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, while already sizable, appears to be only the opening move in a broader expansion plan, according to MTG president and chief executive Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the group’s ambition, set after the Plarium acquisition, is to double its overall scale again within the next three to five years. "We set out the vision last year that post‑acquisition of Plarium we want to double yet again in size," she said.
"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 is aggressive, but Redin noted that MTG has already demonstrated an ability to deliver on bold targets. In 2021 the company announced a similar growth goal and, as she recalled, "we think we tripled" in the interim period.
The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has now settled into a more mature, single‑digit expansion phase. The once‑blue ocean of untapped users has turned a deep red, meaning that future growth will largely come from taking market share from competitors or, more directly, by absorbing them.
Acquiring studios is the easier half of the equation; the real challenge lies in integrating them smoothly. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed mergers that resulted in studio closures and talent loss. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration.
Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile developers, including InnoGames (Forge of Empires), Snowprint (Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6) and Futureplay (Merge Gardens). These studios were organized into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between pure casual and hardcore experiences. Following the Plarium deal, the districts were rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp.
Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp focuses on games that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which now represent the bulk of MTG’s earnings. Redin emphasized that the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a vision to create "one of the leading gaming villages." She explained that the term "village" is deliberately inviting, intended to foster a sense of belonging among staff and to improve employee retention—a crucial factor when a company is rapidly adding new studios.
"I always say gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions. People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment for them to thrive in," Redin said. "We buy our companies, which also means that we want the founders and the teams to stay on board post‑acquisition, because that's when the true exciting story should start and you continue to scale the businesses.
The only way you can make sure they stay is if you create an environment which they enjoy." A key pillar of the integration effort is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin has pursued this agenda since becoming CEO in 2020, but she believes the scale achieved after the Plarium acquisition finally allows the vision to be fully realised.
"Not everything needs to be built uniquely for every single company," she noted. The approach mirrors past industry attempts—such as Electronic Arts’ push to force all studios onto the Frostbite engine, which caused considerable friction—but MTG is taking a more nuanced route. The two districts receive different tech stacks. Playsimple’s platform will serve as the foundation for future casual acquisitions, while the Midcore (Playamp) side will adopt selected components of Plarium’s technology suite.
Redin stressed that the rollout is selective and based on thorough internal assessments of where collaboration makes sense. "We have done a very thorough internal assessment on where it makes sense that we collaborate and share technical tools, and where it doesn't make sense," she explained. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system are already being rolled out across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality.
The goal is to maximise impact while minimising waste: "We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck," Redin said. "We have some amazing game makers across the group. And what we want to do now with Playamp is to really supercharge that with a tech suite that they can leverage on, where we are elevating everything that was already done." Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily.
InnoGames, for example, has been using AI to generate all content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to broaden AI‑driven content creation across its catalogue. Redin sees this as part of a broader industry trend: AI is being woven into production pipelines for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics creation, quality assurance and more. "Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool that we got access to before," she said.
"We are all trying to find our ways of how to strike the right balance for it. How are you changing your workflow?
Where do you not change the workflow? How do we find areas to do more? Because at the end of the day, it comes back to leveraging new tech to actually make our games more relevant for the players." MTG’s AI strategy is not about replacing human creativity but augmenting it.
Redin warned against the notion that AI will eventually do everything a game developer does. "I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do? And I actually don't think so," she said. "What is important is that our talent, our workforce has an amazing creativity.
That doesn't sit yet within AI. However, if we don't embrace AI, we are going to be slower than our competitors." By integrating AI tools into existing pipelines, MTG hopes to accelerate development cycles, improve quality and ultimately deliver more compelling experiences faster. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being packaged into the Plarium tech suite and disseminated throughout the organisation, ensuring that breakthroughs can be shared quickly. Revenue-wise, around 80 % of MTG’s income now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple.
Redin is eager to broaden both sides. She cited Snowprint as an example of a studio she would like to replicate: "We bought Snowprint a couple of years back, and if we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic. And on the casual side, we would like to add more scale." Currently Playsimple is a single studio, but the ambition is to grow it into a multi‑studio district, and perhaps eventually add a third district focused on core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics.
When asked about the future of mobile gaming, Redin observed that the top‑ten charts have remained remarkably stable, underscoring the power of evergreen IPs. "Our thesis from day one has been that we believe in evergreen IPs," she said. While MTG continues to invest in proven titles like Raid, it also recognises the need for a fresh pipeline.
Plarium is preparing a new game for a soft launch early next year, and Redin stressed that without new releases the creative DNA of the studios would erode. The broader market context is one of maturation. The mobile sector has shifted from hyper‑growth to low‑single‑digit or mid‑single‑digit expansion.
Redin remains optimistic: "We have three billion gamers out there, so is it a compelling market? Yes.
Do we compete for airtime with streaming platforms, social media, and so forth? Yes. But I believe there is still growth in the gaming market." In summary, MTG’s roadmap hinges on three pillars: strategic acquisitions, thoughtful integration through unified technology and districts, and the judicious use of AI to boost productivity while preserving human creativity.
If the company can execute on these fronts, the ambitious goal of doubling its size within five years could become a reality, positioning MTG as a dominant village in the increasingly competitive mobile gaming landscape.