In February of the previous year, Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal was only the opening move in what the company’s chief executive, Maria Redin, describes as a much larger growth playbook. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the vision set out after the Plarium acquisition was to "double the size of the group again" – and she stressed that organic expansion alone would not be enough to hit that target.
"We want to keep fueling organic growth, but to truly accelerate we’ll need to pursue additional acquisitions," she said. The timeline she outlined is aggressive: the aim is to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years.
Redin noted that MTG has already demonstrated an ability to scale quickly, pointing to a three‑fold increase in size that the company achieved after setting a similar ambition in 2021. The mobile gaming sector, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has now settled into single‑digit expansion as the market matures.
What was once a blue‑ocean landscape has turned a deep red, meaning that future growth will often involve capturing market share from rivals or, more directly, absorbing them. While buying companies is relatively straightforward, the real challenge lies in integrating those studios without disrupting their creative output—a pitfall that has led many firms to shutter studios after poorly managed mergers. MTG entered the Plarium deal already owning a portfolio of successful 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 previously 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, MTG rebranded these divisions as Playsimple and Playamp. Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the majority of MTG’s portfolio—games that rely on in‑app purchases for revenue.
The rebranding is more than a cosmetic change. Redin explained that the company’s long‑term goal is to create "one of the leading gaming villages," a phrase chosen deliberately to evoke a sense of community and belonging. The emphasis is on retaining talent and fostering an environment where acquired teams feel motivated to stay and continue building. "Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," Redin said.
"People are our biggest asset, but they only thrive when the workplace supports them. When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and their teams to remain after the deal, because that’s when the real story begins and we can scale the business together. The only way to make that happen is to build a culture they enjoy." A key part of the integration effort has been the standardisation of technology and tools across the entire MTG group. Redin noted that the push for a common tech stack began when she became CEO in 2020, but it was the scale provided by the Plarium acquisition that finally allowed the vision to be fully realised.
She cautioned, however, that a one‑size‑fits‑all approach would be inappropriate. The needs of the Playsimple studios differ dramatically from those of Playamp, so the two divisions are being equipped with separate, specialised toolsets. "Playsimple’s tech stack will become the foundation for any future casual‑district studios we bring on board," Redin explained.
"For the midcore side, we have selected components of Plarium’s technology suite to roll out across the group, but we are doing it selectively to ensure the end result benefits every company involved. We performed a thorough internal assessment to decide where collaboration on tools makes sense and where it does not." Among the shared resources is Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and its product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system, both of which are being enhanced with new features by MTG.
The intention is to boost the productivity of all studios, concentrating effort where it yields the greatest return. "We have brilliant game makers across the group, and with Playamp we want to supercharge them with a robust tech suite that builds on what they already do well," Redin said.
Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI to generate all of the content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is looking to extend AI‑driven content creation across its entire catalogue. Redin sees this as part of a broader industry trend: AI is being woven into the production pipeline to accelerate development and improve quality. "Most of the people I talk to in the industry are having the same conversations about how to adopt new technology," she remarked.
"Generative AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before. The challenge is finding the right balance—identifying which workflows to augment with AI, which to keep unchanged, and where we can push the envelope further. Ultimately, the goal is to make our games more relevant to players and, ideally, bring new titles to market faster and at a higher quality." MTG’s AI strategy focuses on layering AI capabilities onto existing tools for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance, and analytics. Successful AI solutions that emerge within individual studios are being packaged into the broader Plarium tech suite for company‑wide deployment.
"We give our studios the freedom to experiment within the parameters of our overarching AI framework," Redin said. "When a studio develops something that works exceptionally well, we can quickly roll it out across the group." When asked whether AI has become a prerequisite for competing in the fast‑moving mobile market, Redin was cautious. "It’s dangerous to claim AI can replace everything we do," she responded.
"Creative talent remains irreplaceable. However, if we ignore AI, we risk falling behind competitors who are leveraging it to speed up development and enhance player experiences. AI should amplify, not replace, human creativity." Redin highlighted that about 80 % of MTG’s current revenue comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. She expressed a desire to broaden both sides of the business.
"We acquired Snowprint a few years ago; if we could find five more studios like Snowprint worldwide, that would be fantastic. On the casual side, we also want to increase scale," she said. While Playsimple presently consists of a single studio, Redin hinted at the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, focused on leveraging the group’s core capabilities in marketing and data analytics.
Despite the rapid evolution of the market, Redin observed that the top‑ten mobile games list changes very little from year to year. "Our thesis from day one has been to focus on evergreen IPs," she explained. "Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of life left, but we also need a pipeline of new games to keep the portfolio fresh." Creating successful new titles is increasingly challenging.
Ilkka Paananen of Supercell warned that the Western mobile market is "coasting," noting that only two of the 22 mobile games that have generated over $1 billion since 2020 originated in the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, with projects like Squad Busters being shut down after a brief launch. Redin acknowledged these difficulties but stressed that abandoning new‑game development would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios.
"Plarium has a new title slated for soft launch early next year," she said. "Investing in new games preserves creativity, passion, and drive across the group." Looking ahead, Redin remains optimistic about the market’s long‑term potential. With roughly three billion gamers worldwide, the industry is still compelling, even if growth rates have settled into low‑single‑digit or mid‑single‑digit territory. "To exceed that baseline growth, we must continue to invest in strong evergreen IPs while also bringing fresh experiences to market," she concluded.
In summary, Maria Redin’s roadmap for MTG combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful rebranding, technology standardisation, and AI‑enhanced development to double the company’s size within a few years. By fostering a collaborative "gaming village" culture, leveraging shared tools, and maintaining a balanced focus on both proven franchises and innovative new titles, MTG aims to stay competitive in an increasingly mature mobile gaming landscape.