In February of last year, the Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the wildly popular hero‑collection game Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening move in a broader strategic play, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the acquisition of Plarium was part of a vision set out the previous year: "After bringing Plarium into the fold we intend to double the size of the group once again." She added that organic growth will continue to be a priority, but that achieving the next‑level expansion will require additional acquisitions. The timeline she cites is ambitious – roughly three to five years – yet she points out that MTG has already proven its capacity to scale quickly.
"We set a similar ambition in 2021 and ended up tripling the business," Redin said, underscoring the company’s track record of rapid expansion. The mobile gaming sector, once characterised by double‑digit growth rates, has now settled into a more mature, single‑digit expansion environment. What used to be a blue‑ocean landscape has turned decidedly red, meaning that future growth will often come from taking market share from competitors or, more dramatically, by 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 integrations that led to studio closures, but MTG believes it has a clear roadmap for success. Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, 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 organised into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between pure casual experiences and more demanding hardcore titles.
Following the acquisition, MTG rebranded these divisions as Playsimple and Playamp. Playsimple, named after the India‑based studio behind WordTrip, aggregates free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp houses the majority of MTG’s portfolio, which relies on in‑app purchases (IAPs) for revenue. The rebranding is more than a cosmetic change. Redin explained that the goal is to forge "one of the leading gaming villages," a phrase chosen deliberately to evoke a sense of community and belonging.
"We want to create an environment that people want to be part of," she said, highlighting employee retention and cultural integration as critical factors when a company expands through acquisitions. "Gaming is the best marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making.
Our people are our greatest asset, but they also need a workplace where they can thrive. When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and their teams to stay on board, because that’s when the real story begins – the scaling phase. The only way to ensure they stay is to give them an environment they enjoy." A key component of MTG’s integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across its portfolio.
Redin noted that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; a shared foundation can drive efficiencies and accelerate development. This standardisation agenda has been on her agenda since she became CEO in 2020, but the scale achieved after adding Plarium finally made it feasible to roll out the vision company‑wide.
The company is careful not to repeat the missteps of other giants. For example, Electronic Arts’ forced adoption of the Frostbite engine across disparate studios caused considerable friction and delayed projects such as Mass Effect. MTG, by contrast, recognises that the technical requirements of Playsimple’s casual games differ markedly from those of Playamp’s midcore titles.
Consequently, the two divisions are being equipped with separate, purpose‑built toolsets. Redin explained: "Playsimple’s tech stack will become the baseline for any future casual studio we bring into the district. For the midcore side, we have selected elements of Plarium’s technology to roll out across the group, but we are doing it selectively to ensure the end result benefits every studio.
We conducted a thorough internal assessment to determine where collaboration makes sense and where it does not." Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data platform have already been deployed across MTG, and Redin said the company is actively adding new features and functionality. The aim is to boost the productivity of all studios, delivering the greatest return on investment. "We have amazing game makers across the group, and with Playamp we want to super‑charge them with a robust tech suite that elevates everything they already do," she said.
Generative AI is another pillar of MTG’s modernization effort. InnoGames, for instance, has been using AI to generate all the content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to broaden AI‑driven content creation across its portfolio.
Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in mobile game production across the industry. "Most of the people I talk to are having similar discussions about how to integrate new technology into our pipelines," she noted, adding that generative AI is "significantly more powerful than any tool we’ve had before." The company’s AI strategy focuses on augmenting existing workflows rather than replacing them. AI is being layered onto tools for A/B testing, graphics creation, quality assurance, and other routine processes. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the Plarium tech suite for broader use.
"We allow our studios to experiment within the boundaries of our overarching AI framework," Redin explained. "When one team develops a breakthrough, we can quickly propagate that capability across the group." When asked whether AI has become indispensable for competing in the fast‑moving mobile market, Redin was cautious. "It’s dangerous to claim AI will do everything a human can," she said. "Our talent’s creativity remains something AI can’t replicate.
However, if we ignore AI we risk falling behind competitors. Embracing AI lets us maintain our creative edge while accelerating development, improving analysis, and filling capacity gaps." Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple.
Redin is eager to expand both sides of the business. She cited Snowprint as an example of a studio she would like to replicate globally: "If we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic." On the casual side, she noted that Playsimple is currently a single studio but still contributes a solid fifth of the group’s earnings. Redin hinted at the possibility of a third district, which would likely be built around core capabilities such as the shared marketing platform or data infrastructure. Despite the emphasis on acquisitions and technology, MTG’s game‑development philosophy remains rooted in evergreen intellectual property.
Redin observed that the top‑ten mobile games list changes very little year over year, and the company’s strategy from day one has been to back titles with lasting appeal. "Raid Shadow Legends still has many years ahead of it," she said, while also acknowledging the necessity of a fresh pipeline. Plarium, for instance, has a new title slated for a soft launch early next year. The broader industry context is sobering.
Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen warned that the Western mobile market is "coasting," with only two of the 22 games that have generated over $1 billion since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled; its Squad Busters project was shuttered after a brief launch in 2024. Redin agrees that creating and scaling a hit game is difficult, but she believes that neglecting new titles would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios.
Looking ahead, Redin sees a mature but still attractive market. "There are three billion gamers worldwide, so it’s definitely a compelling market," she affirmed. While hyper‑growth may be a thing of the past, the industry still enjoys low‑ to mid‑single‑digit growth rates.
To outpace that baseline, MTG will need to double‑down on strong evergreen IPs while also delivering fresh experiences that capture player attention. In summary, MTG’s roadmap combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, AI‑enhanced workflows, and a balanced portfolio of proven and new titles. By fostering a "gaming village" where talent feels valued and tools are shared, Maria Redin believes the company can double its size within the next few years and remain a leading force in the evolving mobile gaming landscape.