In February of the previous year, Sweden’s 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 MTG’s president and chief executive officer, Maria Redin, describes as an aggressive expansion agenda. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set after the Plarium purchase, is to double its overall size once again.
"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 she cited for this doubling is roughly three to five years – a bold horizon, but one that mirrors the firm’s historical pace. Redin noted that MTG pursued a similar target in 2021 and succeeded in tripling its scale within a comparable period. The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years.
What was once a rapidly expanding, double‑digit growth market has settled into single‑digit increases, reflecting a maturing sector where the low‑hanging fruit has largely been harvested. In this environment, growth now often means capturing market share from rivals or, more directly, absorbing them through acquisitions. While buying companies can be straightforward, the real challenge lies in integrating them without disrupting the creative engines that make those studios successful. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed mergers that resulted in studio closures and talent loss.
MTG entered the Plarium deal already overseeing 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 divisions: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences. Following the acquisition, MTG rebranded these segments as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp focuses on games that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which now constitute the bulk of MTG’s earnings.
Beyond a simple name change, Redin emphasized that the restructuring is intended to forge "one of the leading gaming villages." The terminology is purposeful: it evokes a sense of community and belonging, aimed at boosting employee retention and fostering seamless collaboration across the growing family of studios. "People are definitely one of our biggest assets," Redin explained. "We need to create an environment where they can thrive, and that means keeping founders and teams on board after a deal, because that’s when the real story begins and the businesses can scale. The only way to ensure they stay is to make the workplace enjoyable and supportive." A key pillar of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Redin has championed this approach since becoming CEO in 2020, but she says the scale achieved after adding Plarium finally allowed MTG to roll out a unified tech vision. "Not everything needs to be built uniquely for every single company," she noted. However, she is careful to point out that the tech stacks for Playsimple and Playamp differ substantially, so the standardisation effort is tailored to each division’s needs.
For the casual side, Playsimple’s technology will serve as the baseline for any future studios that join that district. In the midcore arena, MTG has selected components of Plarium’s existing tech suite to deploy group‑wide, but only after a meticulous internal assessment to determine where shared tools make sense and where bespoke solutions are required. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system have already been rolled out across the organisation, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. Redin believes that this unified infrastructure will amplify the output of all studios.
"We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck," she said. "We have some amazing game makers across the group, and with Playamp we aim to super‑charge them with a tech suite they can leverage, elevating everything that was already done." Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily.
The technology is already reshaping content creation at InnoGames, where AI has been used to generate assets for the mobile title Sunrise Village, and the studio plans to expand AI‑driven production across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI is becoming a standard discussion point throughout the mobile sector. "Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before," she said, adding that the industry is collectively figuring out how to balance AI integration with existing workflows.
MTG’s AI strategy focuses on layering intelligent tools onto current pipelines for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance, and analytics. Successful AI solutions developed within individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid diffusion of best practices. Redin stressed the importance of flexibility: studios can experiment with AI as long as they adhere to the overarching framework that defines acceptable use cases and safeguards.
When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creativity, Redin cautioned against over‑optimism. "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 replied. She believes that human imagination remains the core driver of compelling games, but acknowledges that ignoring AI would leave MTG lagging behind competitors. "If we don’t embrace AI, we will be slower than our rivals. AI can supercharge everything we do while we keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team." Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now stems from the Playamp division, with the casual Playsimple side contributing roughly 20 %.
Redin is eager to broaden both divisions. She cited Snowprint as an example, saying that acquiring several studios with similar capabilities would be “fantastic.” Although Playsimple currently consists of a single studio, Redin hinted at the possibility of adding a third “district” to the gaming village, one that would likely revolve around the core competencies of marketing platforms or data analytics.
Despite the emphasis on acquisitions and technology, Redin reaffirmed MTG’s belief in evergreen intellectual property. The top‑ten mobile games list changes little year over year, and titles with proven longevity, like Raid, remain central to the company’s strategy. Nonetheless, she stressed the necessity of a fresh pipeline.
"We need to continue to have a pipeline of games coming to the market," she said, acknowledging the difficulty of launching successful new titles in a market where only a handful of recent releases have broken the $1 billion revenue barrier. Industry peers, such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen, have warned that Western mobile developers are “coasting,” with few new blockbusters emerging. Yet Redin remains optimistic: with three billion gamers worldwide, the market is still compelling, even if growth rates have settled into low‑ to mid‑single‑digit figures. She concluded that sustaining growth will require a dual approach: nurturing strong evergreen IPs while also bringing innovative new games to players.
In summary, MTG under Maria Redin’s leadership is pursuing a multi‑pronged growth model that combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful rebranding, technology standardisation, and strategic AI adoption. By fostering a collaborative "gaming village" culture and investing both in proven franchises and fresh concepts, the company aims to double its size within the next few years while navigating the challenges of a maturing mobile gaming ecosystem.