In February of last year, Sweden’s mobile entertainment titan Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening move in a much larger strategy, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the group’s ambition, set after the Plarium acquisition, is to double its overall size once again. “We defined the vision last year that after bringing Plarium into the fold we want to double again,” she explained. “Organic growth will continue, but to achieve the scale we need further acquisitions.” The timetable is aggressive: Redin aims to hit the doubling target within three to five years.
She noted that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to meet bold goals, recalling a 2021 objective that resulted in a three‑fold increase in size. The mobile gaming 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 vast, untapped ocean has become a crowded, competitive arena where expansion often means taking market share from rivals—or absorbing them outright.
Acquiring companies is the easy half of the equation; integrating them successfully is where many firms stumble. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of poorly managed mergers that end in studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap. Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, including InnoGames (known for Forge of Empires), Snowprint (creator of Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (developer of F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (behind Bloons TD 6), and Futureplay (makers of Merge Gardens).
These studios were grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between pure casual and hardcore experiences. Following the acquisition, 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 contains the majority of MTG’s portfolio, focusing on games that generate revenue through in‑app purchases. Redin says the rebranding is only the tip of the iceberg.
Her goal is to create “one of the leading gaming villages,” a phrase she chose deliberately to foster a sense of community and belonging among employees. Retaining talent and ensuring smooth integration are paramount for a company that has been on an acquisition binge. "Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," Redin remarked.
"People are our greatest asset, but they need an environment where they can thrive. When we buy a studio, we want the founders and their teams to stay on board because that’s when the real story begins and we can scale the business further.
The only way to keep them is to build a workplace they love." Behind the scenes, MTG has been standardising technology and tools across its network—a plan Redin launched when she became CEO in 2020. The Plarium acquisition gave the group the scale needed to roll out the vision fully. While tech standardisation can be risky—EA’s push to force all studios onto the Frostbite engine famously caused turmoil—Redin stresses that the needs of Playsimple and Playamp differ, so the two divisions are being equipped with separate tech stacks. "Playsimple’s stack will become the foundation for any future casual studio we add," she said.
"For Midcore, we have selected parts of Plarium’s technology to share group‑wide, but we’re deploying it selectively to ensure it adds value for every studio. We conducted a thorough internal review to decide where collaboration makes sense and where it does not." Key components of the shared toolkit include Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and its product‑detail‑page data system, both of which are being enhanced with additional features. Redin believes that by concentrating resources on the most impactful tools, MTG can boost the performance of all its studios.
Generative AI is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑driven creation across its catalogue.
Redin sees this as part of a broader industry trend: AI is being woven into every stage of game production, from A/B testing and graphics to quality assurance. "AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before," she noted. "We’re figuring out how to balance it—where to change workflows, where to keep them, and where AI can add the most value.
Ultimately, it’s about making our games more relevant to players and accelerating our ability to launch new titles, ideally with higher quality." The company encourages studios to experiment within an overarching AI framework, sharing successful approaches quickly across the group. Redin cautions against the notion that AI will replace human creativity entirely. "Our talent’s imagination is still irreplaceable," she said.
"But if we ignore AI, we’ll fall behind competitors. AI can fill capacity gaps in analysis, coding, art, and logic, allowing us to maintain our creative edge while moving faster." Revenue-wise, about 80 % now comes from the Playamp division, with Redin eager to broaden the studio roster. She cited Snowprint as an example, saying that acquiring five more studios of its caliber would be ideal. On the casual side, Playsimple currently accounts for roughly 20 % of revenue, and Redin hinted at the possibility of adding a third "district" to the gaming village, likely built around the group’s marketing and data capabilities.
When asked about the future of mobile games, Redin observed that the top‑ten charts change little year over year, reinforcing her belief in evergreen intellectual property. While MTG continues to invest in proven titles like Raid, it also recognises the need for fresh pipelines. Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new game early next year.
The broader market, however, is challenging. Western mobile publishers have struggled to produce new billion‑dollar hits, and even industry leaders like Supercell have seen limited success with recent incubated projects. Redin acknowledges the difficulty but stresses that a pipeline of new games is essential to preserve studio DNA, creativity, and passion. Looking ahead, Redin remains optimistic about growth despite the market’s maturation.
With three billion gamers worldwide, she believes the sector is still compelling, even as it competes for attention with streaming services and social media. While hyper‑growth may be a thing of the past, she expects low‑ to mid‑single‑digit expansion and argues that sustained investment in evergreen IPs combined with a steady flow of new titles will keep MTG moving forward.