In February of the previous year, Sweden’s 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, however, is only the opening act of a much larger ambition, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set out 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 timetable she cites is aggressive: the goal is to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years. Redin notes that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to hit bold targets – the firm set a similar ambition in 2021 and, according to her, managed to triple its scale in the ensuing period. The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit expansion, has now settled into single‑digit growth, a sign that the sector is maturing. What was once a blue‑ocean landscape has turned increasingly competitive, meaning that future growth will likely come from capturing market share from rivals or absorbing them outright.
Acquiring companies is the relatively straightforward part of the equation; the real challenge lies in integration. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of acquisitions that resulted in studio closures because the merging process was mishandled. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap. Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, including InnoGames (creator of Forge of Empires), Snowprint (Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6) and Futureplay (Merge Gardens).
These studios were split into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences. The districts have now been renamed Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the majority of MTG’s portfolio, focused on games that generate revenue through in‑app purchases. Redin stresses that the rebranding is more than cosmetic.
She envisions MTG evolving into “one of the leading gaming villages,” a term chosen deliberately to evoke a sense of community and belonging. “It is supposed to create something that people want to be part of,” she explained, underscoring the importance of employee retention and cultural integration after rapid expansion.
"Gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions," Redin said. "People are one of our biggest assets, but we also need to create an environment where they can thrive. 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. The only way you can make sure they stay is if you create an environment which they enjoy." A key component of the integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Redin notes that this effort began when she became CEO in 2020, but it was only after the Plarium deal that MTG reached the scale needed to roll the vision out fully. She acknowledges the pitfalls of forced tech uniformity – citing Electronic Arts’ problematic push to adopt the Frostbite engine – but points out that MTG is treating the two districts differently. Playsimple’s tech stack will serve as the foundation for future casual acquisitions, whereas the Midcore (Playamp) side will selectively adopt parts of Plarium’s technology suite. "We have done a very thorough internal assessment on where it makes sense to collaborate and share technical tools, and where it doesn’t," Redin said.
"Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and PDP data platform are being used across MTG, and we are adding features and functionality to them. The hope is that all this will improve the output of studios across the board." Generative AI is also reshaping MTG’s production pipeline. 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 believes this mirrors a broader industry trend: AI tools are being woven into game development workflows to accelerate content creation, enhance A/B testing, improve graphics, and streamline quality assurance.
"AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before," she remarked. "We are all trying to find the right balance – where to change the workflow, where to keep it, and where AI can add the most value. Ultimately it comes back to leveraging new tech to make our games more relevant for players and, ideally, to bring new games to market faster and better." While Redin acknowledges that AI will not replace human creativity, she warns that companies that ignore it risk falling behind.
"If we don’t embrace AI, we will be slower than our competitors," she said. "We keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team, but we can leverage completely new levels of technology alongside it." Revenue-wise, about 80 % of MTG’s earnings now come from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by the single casual studio, Playsimple. Redin is eager to expand both sides: "We bought Snowprint a couple of years back, and if we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic. On the casual side we would like to add more scale." She also hinted at the possibility of a third district, which would likely centre on core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics.
When asked about the future of mobile titles, Redin observes that the top‑ten games rarely shift dramatically. "Our thesis from day one has been that evergreen IPs are the backbone of the business," she said. Yet she also stresses the necessity of a fresh pipeline: "Raid has many years ahead of it, but we also believe in making new games because you need a continuous flow of titles to the market." The broader market context is less rosy. Western mobile developers have struggled to produce new billion‑dollar hits, and even Supercell’s recent incubation efforts have yielded limited success.
Redin concedes the difficulty: "It’s hard to make a successful game and scale it. Not investing in new games would erode the DNA of our studios, which is essential for creativity and passion." Looking ahead, Redin remains optimistic about the overall gaming landscape despite its maturity.
With roughly three billion gamers worldwide, she believes the market still offers growth, albeit at a slower, single‑digit rate. To exceed that baseline, MTG plans to double down on its strong evergreen franchises while simultaneously nurturing new titles, leveraging AI, and expanding its acquisition‑driven “gaming village.”