In February of last year, the Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million acquisition of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, while already sizable, is only the opening move in what the company’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin, describes as an aggressive expansion plan. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the vision set out after the Plarium purchase is to double MTG’s overall scale once more, aiming to achieve this growth within a three‑to‑five‑year horizon. "We want to keep driving organic growth, but to reach that next level we’ll need to pursue additional acquisitions," she explained.
The ambition is not new to the Swedish group; a similar target was announced in 2021, and Redin notes that MTG actually tripled its size in the intervening years. The mobile gaming sector, which a few years ago was expanding at double‑digit rates, has now settled into a mature, single‑digit growth environment. What was once a blue‑ocean market has become fiercely competitive, and gaining market share now often means either taking business from rivals or absorbing them outright. While buying companies can be straightforward, the real challenge lies in integrating those studios without disrupting their creative engines.
The industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed mergers that led to studio closures, but Redin believes MTG has a clear roadmap for successful integration. Before adding Plarium to its portfolio, MTG already owned a collection of mobile developers, including InnoGames (known for Forge of Empires), Snowprint (Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6), and Futureplay (Merge Gardens).
These studios were originally split into two operational clusters: the Casual District and the Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between purely casual experiences and hardcore titles. Following the recent rebranding effort, these clusters have been renamed Playsimple and Playamp respectively. Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, while Playamp focuses on titles that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which constitute the bulk of MTG’s earnings.
Redin emphasizes that the rebranding goes far beyond a cosmetic change. She envisions MTG as a "gaming village"—a community‑like environment that encourages talent to stay and thrive.
"Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," she said. "Our people are our greatest asset, but we must also provide an environment where they can flourish.
When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and their teams to remain on board because that’s when the real story begins and we can scale the business together. The only way to ensure they stay is to make the workplace enjoyable and supportive." A major part of the integration strategy has been the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin notes that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; instead, MTG is building shared platforms that can be rolled out at scale.
This initiative, which began when she took the helm in 2020, only gained the necessary momentum after the Plarium deal gave the company sufficient size to implement it broadly. The pitfalls of forced tech uniformity are well known. Electronic Arts, for example, faced significant resistance when it mandated the use of its Frostbite engine across all studios, causing delays on projects like Mass Effect.
Redin is careful to differentiate between the needs of the Playsimple and Playamp divisions, treating them as distinct ecosystems. "Playsimple’s tech stack will become the foundation for future casual acquisitions, while for Midcore we have selected components of Plarium’s suite to deploy selectively across the group," she explained.
"We conduct thorough internal assessments to decide where collaboration on tools makes sense and where it does not." Two of Plarium’s platforms—the GoGame marketing suite and the product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system—are already being leveraged across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. Redin believes that by concentrating resources on the most impactful technologies, the company can amplify the performance of all its studios. "We have fantastic game makers across the group, and with Playamp we want to supercharge them with a robust tech suite that elevates everything they already do," she said. Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily.
InnoGames, for instance, has been using AI to generate content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is exploring broader AI‑driven content creation. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in many mobile development pipelines, and she stresses the need to find the right balance between automation and human creativity.
"Generative AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before, but we must decide where to adjust workflows and where to keep the existing process," she noted. "The goal is to use new tech to make our games more relevant to players, and ideally to bring new titles to market faster and with higher quality." MTG’s AI strategy focuses on augmenting existing tools for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance, and analytics.
Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid diffusion of best practices. Redin stresses the importance of flexibility: "Studios can experiment within our overarching AI framework, and when one team discovers a breakthrough, we can roll it out across the company quickly." When asked whether AI has become a prerequisite for competing in the mobile space, Redin cautioned against overstatement.
"I don’t think AI will replace the creative spark that our people bring," she said. "However, if we ignore AI we risk falling behind competitors who are already leveraging it. AI can fill capacity gaps—whether in coding, art, or complex logic—and act as a super‑charger for our development pipelines." Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. Redin is eager to broaden the studio roster, noting that the company purchased Snowprint a few years ago and would welcome additional studios with similar capabilities.
She also hinted at the possibility of adding a third "district" to the gaming village, likely centred around the shared marketing and data platforms that have become core competencies for MTG. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes the top‑ten mobile games list remains relatively stable, reinforcing the company’s long‑standing focus on evergreen IPs. While Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of revenue potential, MTG continues to invest in new titles to keep the pipeline fresh.
Redin acknowledges the difficulty of launching successful new games, citing industry examples such as Supercell’s recent struggles with new releases. Nevertheless, she argues that without a flow of fresh concepts, studios risk losing the creative DNA that fuels innovation. Looking ahead, Redin is optimistic about the overall market.
With roughly three billion mobile gamers worldwide, the sector remains compelling even if hyper‑growth has given way to modest single‑digit expansion. "If you want to grow beyond the baseline, you must double‑down on strong evergreen IPs while also bringing new games to market," she concluded. "That balanced approach will keep us competitive in a crowded entertainment landscape that includes streaming services, social media, and countless other ways people spend their time."