In February of last year, Swedish mobile‑gaming powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collecting 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 company’s ambition, set after the Plarium transaction, is to double its overall size once again within a three‑to‑five‑year horizon.
"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, yet not without precedent. Redin recalled that MTG pursued a similar target in 2021 and managed to triple its revenue base in a few short years. The mobile sector, which a few years ago was expanding at double‑digit rates, has now settled into single‑digit growth as the market matures.
What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has become a crowded red sea where gaining market share often means either taking customers from rivals or absorbing those rivals outright. Acquiring studios is the easy part; integrating them is notoriously difficult. The games industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed mergers that resulted in studio closures.
MTG, however, believes it has a clear integration roadmap. Before buying Plarium, the group 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).
Those studios were grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District, the latter covering games that sit between purely casual and hardcore experiences. Following the Plarium deal, the districts were rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp focuses on games that rely on in‑app purchases, which currently represent the bulk of MTG’s revenue. The renaming is more than cosmetic; Redin says the goal is to create "one of the leading gaming villages"—a community‑like environment that encourages talent retention and smooth cultural integration across the many newly acquired teams.
"Gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions," Redin explained. "People are our biggest asset, but we also need to give them 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 be scaled. The only way to make that happen is to build a workplace they enjoy." A major pillar of the integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin noted that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; a shared foundation can accelerate development and reduce costs.
This standardisation effort began when she became CEO in 2020, but the Plarium acquisition gave MTG the scale needed to roll it out fully. She is careful to distinguish the needs of the two districts: Playsimple’s tech stack will serve future casual acquisitions, while the Midcore side will adopt selected components of Plarium’s suite in a measured, selective rollout. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑data platform are already being deployed across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality.
Redin emphasised that the company wants to allocate resources where they generate the greatest return, saying, "We have some amazing game makers across the group. With Playamp we want to super‑charge that with a tech suite they can leverage, elevating everything that was already done." Artificial intelligence is another lever in MTG’s growth strategy.
Generative AI tools are now being used to produce in‑game assets, conduct A/B testing, improve quality assurance, and streamline art creation. InnoGames, for example, has been generating content for its mobile title Sunrise Village with AI for some time and plans to expand that capability. Redin sees AI as a way to boost productivity without replacing the human creativity that remains central to game design.
"AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before," she said. "We’re figuring out how to balance it—where to change workflows, where to keep them, and where it can help us bring new games to market faster and better." The executive also addressed the competitive pressure to adopt AI. While some fear that AI could eventually replace many development tasks, Redin believes that the unique creativity of developers cannot be fully replicated.
Nonetheless, she warned that companies that ignore AI risk falling behind their rivals. Revenue-wise, roughly 80 % of MTG’s income now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple.
Redin is keen to broaden both sides. She mentioned the recent acquisition of Snowprint and expressed interest in finding “five more Snowprints” worldwide. On the casual front, she noted that Playsimple is currently a single studio but still contributes a solid fifth of the group’s earnings. Looking ahead, Redin hinted at the possibility of adding a third district—perhaps focused on marketing or data capabilities—once the existing two are fully stabilised.
When asked about the future of mobile gaming, Redin observed that the top‑ten charts have become relatively static, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen IPs. While Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of revenue potential, the company also recognises the need for a fresh pipeline. Plarium is preparing a new title for soft launch early next year, and MTG continues to scout for novel concepts.
Industry peers, such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen, have warned that the Western mobile market is “coasting,” with only a handful of new billion‑dollar games emerging since 2020. Redin acknowledged the difficulty of launching successful new titles but argued that a steady flow of fresh games is essential to preserve the creative DNA of the studios and keep the portfolio vibrant. In summary, Redin sees a mature but still sizable market—about three billion gamers globally—and believes growth will come from a balanced mix of strengthening evergreen franchises and responsibly introducing new experiences. While hyper‑growth may be a thing of the past, MTG aims to achieve low‑ to mid‑single‑digit expansion by leveraging acquisitions, unified technology, AI‑enhanced production, and a culture that values both data and imagination.