In February of last year, Sweden's mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million acquisition of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal was only the opening move in a broader expansion plan, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the group’s ambition, set after the Plarium purchase, is to double its overall scale again within the next three to five years. While organic growth will continue to play a part, she emphasized that further acquisitions will be essential to hit that target. Redin pointed out that MTG has already pursued a similar goal in 2021, when the company tripled its size in a short period.
The mobile gaming landscape, once characterized by rapid double‑digit growth, has now settled into single‑digit expansion as the market matures. The once‑vast blue ocean has turned a deep red, meaning that future growth will largely depend on capturing market share from rivals or absorbing them outright.
Acquiring companies is relatively straightforward; the real challenge lies in integrating them smoothly. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of mergers that resulted in studio closures due to poor integration. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap.
Before buying Plarium, the group already owned a portfolio of studios such as InnoGames (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 casual and hardcore experiences.
Following the Plarium deal, MTG rebranded these districts as Playsimple and Playamp. Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the majority of the group’s in‑app‑purchase (IAP) driven games. The rebranding is more than cosmetic; Redin says the aim is to create a "leading gaming village" where employees feel a strong sense of belonging.
Retaining talent is critical when a company grows quickly through acquisitions, and Redin stresses that MTG wants founders and teams to stay on board after a deal closes. She believes that an enjoyable work environment is the best way to ensure that the newly acquired studios continue to thrive and scale.
A key part of the integration effort has been the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin notes that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; instead, MTG is rolling out shared platforms where it makes sense. The push for standardisation began when she became CEO in 2020, but the scale achieved after adding Plarium gave the company the resources to implement the vision fully.
She is careful to differentiate the needs of the two districts: Playsimple’s tech foundation will serve future casual acquisitions, whereas Playamp will adopt selected elements of Plarium’s technology suite, deployed selectively after a thorough internal assessment of where collaboration adds value. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑data platform (PDP) are already being used group‑wide, with MTG adding new features to enhance functionality. Redin explains that the goal is to concentrate effort where it yields the greatest return, supercharging the already strong game‑making capabilities within Playamp with a robust, shared tech suite.
Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has been generating content for its mobile title Sunrise Village using AI for some time and plans to expand AI‑driven content creation across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in production pipelines throughout the mobile sector. She describes AI as "significantly more powerful than any tool we’ve had before" and says the industry is collectively figuring out how to balance AI integration with existing workflows.
The focus is on layering AI onto current tools for tasks such as A/B testing, graphic creation, quality assurance and analytics, and then propagating successful AI solutions from individual studios across the entire group. When asked whether AI could eventually replace human creativity, Redin cautions against such a deterministic view.
She believes that while AI can accelerate processes and fill capacity gaps, the core creative spark still resides in people. Embracing AI, she argues, is essential to stay competitive, but it should augment—not replace—human talent.
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 the studio roster, noting that MTG has already added Snowprint and would welcome additional studios of similar calibre. She also hints at the possibility of a third district in the future, built around the group’s core capabilities in marketing platforms and data analytics. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes the top‑ten mobile games remain remarkably stable year after year, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen IPs.
While Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of revenue potential, the company continues to invest in new titles to keep the pipeline fresh. She acknowledges the difficulty of launching successful new games, citing industry examples such as Supercell’s recent struggles with new releases, but stresses that a pipeline of fresh IP is vital to preserve studio creativity and drive future growth. Looking ahead, Redin sees a market that, while no longer capable of delivering the hyper‑growth of earlier years, still offers low‑ to mid‑single‑digit expansion opportunities.
To exceed that baseline, MTG will need to double down on its strong evergreen franchises while simultaneously bringing new games to market, leveraging AI, shared technology and a cohesive "gaming village" culture to stay ahead of the competition.