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 wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive, that deal was only the opening move in a much larger plan.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the group’s ambition, set after the Plarium acquisition, 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 cites is bold: roughly three to five years to achieve the doubling.
The target is not unrealistic, Redin noted, because MTG already hit a similar goal in 2021, when the company’s revenue tripled after a series of earlier deals. The mobile market that once grew at double‑digit rates has now settled into single‑digit growth, a sign that the sector is maturing. What used to be a blue‑ocean of untapped users has turned into a crowded, competitive arena where expanding market share often means buying rivals outright.
Acquisitions are therefore the easier part of the equation; the real challenge lies in integrating the new studios without disrupting their creative output. MTG entered the Plarium deal already owning 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 previously grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District for lighter, ad‑supported titles and a Midcore District for games that sit between casual and hardcore, typically monetised through in‑app purchases (IAPs).
Following the acquisition, the districts were rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp respectively. Playsimple now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑driven games, while Playamp contains the majority of MTG’s revenue‑generating, IAP‑focused titles. Redin says the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a broader effort to create what she calls “one of the leading gaming villages.” The name is meant to evoke a sense of community that encourages staff to stay and thrive.
“People are one of our biggest assets,” she explained, “but you also need to make sure you create an environment for them to thrive in. 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.” A key pillar of the integration strategy 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 provided by the Plarium purchase finally gave MTG the leverage to roll out a unified tech stack. The approach is deliberately selective: Playsimple’s toolset is built to serve casual games, while Playamp adopts parts of Plarium’s technology suite for midcore titles.
“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,” Redin said. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑data platform (PDP) are now being deployed across the whole organisation, with additional features being added to suit the broader MTG ecosystem.
The goal is to maximise the return on investment by giving every studio access to a robust, shared infrastructure while still allowing each team to retain its creative independence. Artificial intelligence is another area where MTG is investing heavily.
InnoGames, for example, has already used generative AI to produce all of the content for its mobile title Sunrise Village, and the studio plans to expand AI‑generated assets across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in many stages of game production—from A/B testing and graphics creation to quality assurance and analytics. “Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool that we got access to before,” she noted, adding that the company is careful to balance automation with human creativity. “We keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team, but we can actually leverage completely new levels of technology next to it.” MTG’s revenue split reflects the division’s focus: about 80 % comes from Playamp, while the casual Playsimple unit contributes roughly 20 %.
Redin is eager to broaden both sides. She cites Snowprint as a model, saying that acquiring five more studios with a similar profile would be “fantastic.” On the casual front, she envisions adding more studios to increase scale, even hinting at the possibility of a third “district” that would sit alongside Playsimple and Playamp, built around core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics. When asked about the future of mobile gaming, Redin stresses that the top‑ten charts have remained remarkably stable, underscoring the importance of evergreen IPs.
“Our thesis from day one has been that we believe in evergreen IPs,” she said. Nonetheless, she acknowledges the need for a steady pipeline of new titles. Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new game early next year, and MTG continues to scout for fresh concepts to keep its portfolio vibrant.
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 titles that have generated over $1 billion 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 creating hit games is difficult, but she insists that abandoning new‑game development would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios.
Looking ahead, Redin remains optimistic about the market’s size—three billion gamers worldwide—and its growth potential, even if the era of hyper‑growth is over. “We see low single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit growth depending on the data source,” she said. “If you want to grow above and beyond that, you need to continue to invest in your strong evergreen IPs, but you also need to be able to bring new games to the market.”