In February of last year, Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal was only the opening move in what MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin, describes as an aggressive expansion agenda.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set after the Plarium acquisition, is to double its size once again. “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 ambition is tight: Redin aims to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years. She points out that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to scale quickly – the firm set a similar target in 2021 and, according to Redin, “tripled” its size in the ensuing period. 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 of untapped users has become a crowded, highly competitive arena where growth often means taking market share from rivals or absorbing them outright.
While buying companies is relatively straightforward, integrating them successfully is notoriously difficult, with many industry examples of botched mergers leading to studio closures. Redin insists MTG has a clear plan to avoid those pitfalls. Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, including InnoGames (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 districts have now been 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 more than cosmetic; it reflects a broader ambition to create “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging, which she believes is essential for retaining talent after a rapid succession of acquisitions.
“People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment for them to thrive,” she explained. “We buy our companies, which also means that we want the founders and the teams to stay on board post‑acquisition, because that’s when the true exciting story should start and you continue to scale the businesses.” A key component of MTG’s integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across its studios. Redin notes that not every piece of software needs to be built from scratch for each new studio. The push for a common tech stack began when she became CEO in 2020, but the scale required to roll it out fully only materialised after the Plarium acquisition.
She acknowledges the risks – citing Electronic Arts’ problematic rollout of the Frostbite engine – but stresses that MTG tailors its approach to the needs of each district. Playsimple’s tech foundation will serve future casual acquisitions, while Playamp will selectively adopt elements of Plarium’s suite, ensuring that any shared tools genuinely improve outcomes for all studios.
Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system are already being deployed across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance their utility. Redin emphasises that the goal is to allocate resources where they deliver the greatest return: “We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck.” She sees the Playamp tech suite as a lever to super‑charge the existing talent pool, elevating the quality and speed of game development. Generative AI is another pillar of MTG’s future roadmap. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to broaden AI‑driven creation across its portfolio.
Redin observes that AI is being woven into many production processes – from A/B testing and graphic creation to quality assurance – and that successful AI tools from individual studios are being rolled out company‑wide via the Plarium platform. “We need to allow our different studios to try different things, as long as it fits into our overarching AI framework on the dos and don’ts,” she said, adding that rapid knowledge sharing will accelerate innovation.
When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creativity, Redin cautions against such deterministic thinking. “I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do?
And I actually don’t think so,” she replied. “What is important is that our talent has amazing creativity, and that doesn’t sit yet within AI.” Nonetheless, she argues that embracing AI is essential to stay competitive: “If we don’t embrace AI, we are going to be slower than our competitors.” She envisions AI as a force multiplier that can fill capacity gaps in analysis, coding, art and advanced logic, allowing MTG to deliver better games faster.
Revenue-wise, roughly 80 % of MTG’s income now stems from the Playamp division, with the casual side (Playsimple) contributing about 20 %. Redin is eager to broaden both sides of the business.
She cites Snowprint as a model, saying that adding five more studios with a similar profile would be “fantastic,” and notes that the casual side currently consists of a single studio but still accounts for a significant revenue slice. Looking ahead, she hints at the possibility of a third “district” that would leverage the company’s core capabilities in marketing and data, though the exact shape of that unit remains under discussion.
Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes there is still room for growth. “We have three billion gamers out there, so is it a compelling market?
Yes,” she affirmed. “Do we compete for airtime with streaming platforms, social media, and so forth? Yes.
But I believe there’s still growth in the gaming market.” She acknowledges that the era of hyper‑growth is likely over, with most forecasts pointing to low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit expansion. To exceed those baseline figures, MTG must continue to invest in evergreen IPs like Raid while also nurturing new titles. The company already has a fresh Plarium game slated for a soft launch early next year, underscoring the belief that a pipeline of new experiences is essential to retain creative DNA and drive future revenue.