In February of last year, Swedish mobile entertainment leader 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 sizeable, appears to be only the first step in a broader expansion plan, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set out after the Plarium acquisition, is to double its overall size once more. “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 for that growth is aggressive: Redin aims to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years. She noted that MTG has already proven its capacity to scale quickly, recalling that the firm set a similar target in 2021 and ultimately tripled its revenue and studio count in the ensuing period.
The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has now settled into a single‑digit expansion phase as the sector matures. What was once a blue ocean of untapped users has turned “decidedly red,” meaning that future growth will largely depend on capturing market share from rivals or absorbing them through acquisitions. While buying companies is relatively straightforward, integrating them smoothly is notoriously difficult, with many failed mergers resulting in studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration.
Before adding Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, 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 grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences.
The recent rebranding renamed these districts as Playsimple and Playamp respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the majority of MTG’s portfolio, focusing on games that generate revenue through in‑app purchases. Redin emphasized that the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it reflects a strategic vision to build “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is deliberately chosen to convey a sense of community that encourages talent to stay and thrive. “People are one of our biggest assets,” she explained, “but you also need to create an environment where they can flourish.
We buy companies because we want the founders and teams to remain after the deal, as that is when the real story begins and the business can scale.” A key element of the integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Since Redin became CEO in 2020, MTG has pursued a unified tech stack, but the scale required to roll it out fully only materialised after Plarium joined. The company is careful not to repeat the pitfalls of other large publishers—EA’s forced adoption of the Frostbite engine, for example—by tailoring toolsets to the needs of each district. Playsimple’s tech foundation will serve future casual acquisitions, whereas the Midcore district will selectively adopt components of Plarium’s technology suite, ensuring that shared tools add value without imposing unnecessary constraints.
Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system are already being deployed across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. Redin said the goal is to concentrate resources where they generate the greatest return, leveraging the strong creative talent within the group and super‑charging it with a robust, shared tech suite. Generative AI is another pillar of MTG’s growth strategy.
InnoGames, for instance, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑driven creation across its portfolio. Redin noted that AI is being woven into various production pipelines—A/B testing, graphics creation, quality assurance, and more—allowing studios to experiment within a common AI framework and rapidly disseminate successful innovations throughout the organisation. When asked whether AI could eventually replace human creativity, Redin was cautious. She believes AI will not supplant the imaginative spark that developers bring, but she also warns that firms that ignore AI risk falling behind competitors.
“If we don’t embrace AI, we will be slower than our rivals,” she said, adding that AI can help address capacity shortfalls in coding, art, and complex logic, ultimately accelerating the delivery of high‑quality games. 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 both sides of the business. She cited the acquisition of Snowprint as an example and expressed interest in finding additional studios with similar capabilities.
While Playsimple currently consists of a single studio, MTG is contemplating the creation of a third “district” that would leverage the group’s core marketing and data assets to support new types of games or services. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes evergreen IPs remain essential. The top‑ten mobile games list changes little from year to year, and MTG’s strategy has long centred on investing in proven, long‑lived titles like Raid.
Nevertheless, she acknowledges the importance of a fresh pipeline: “It’s hard to make a successful game and scale it, but not investing in new games would strip away a part of our studios’ DNA—creativity, passion, and drive.” The broader industry context underscores this tension. Western mobile publishers have struggled to launch new billion‑dollar hits, with only two out of 22 titles surpassing that threshold since 2020. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have yielded limited success, as illustrated by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin remains optimistic about the market’s long‑term prospects.
With roughly three billion gamers worldwide, she sees ample opportunity, even if the era of hyper‑growth has passed. “We see low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit growth depending on the data source,” she said. “To exceed that, we must continue to invest in strong evergreen IPs while also bringing new games to market.” In summary, MTG’s roadmap under Maria Redin combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, unified technology, AI‑enhanced production, and a balanced portfolio of established and emerging titles—all aimed at doubling the company’s size within the next few years while fostering a collaborative “gaming village” culture that retains talent and drives sustainable growth.