In February of last 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 move in a broader expansion plan, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, 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 target timeline is aggressive: Redin expects the doubling to occur within roughly three to five years. She noted that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to meet bold goals, recalling a 2021 ambition that resulted in a tripling of the firm’s scale. The mobile gaming market, which a few years ago was expanding at double‑digit rates, has now settled into single‑digit growth, reflecting a maturing ecosystem. What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has turned into a highly competitive red‑ocean where growth often means taking market share from rivals or absorbing them outright.
While buying companies can be straightforward, integrating them successfully is notoriously difficult, with many industry examples of failed mergers leading to studio closures. MTG believes it has a roadmap to avoid those pitfalls. Before adding Plarium, 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”: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between pure casual and hardcore experiences.
The districts have now been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, will focus on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp will house the majority of MTG’s portfolio, which relies on in‑app purchases (IAPs). The rebranding is more than a cosmetic change. Redin says the goal is to create “one of the leading gaming villages,” a term chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging.
Employee retention and cultural integration are central to this vision, especially given the rapid pace of acquisitions. “People are one of our biggest assets,” Redin emphasized. “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.” She added that the only way to keep talent is to build an environment they enjoy. A key element of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Redin has pursued this goal since becoming CEO in 2020, but the scale achieved after the Plarium deal finally allowed the vision to be rolled out company‑wide. She cautioned that tech standardisation must be applied sensibly; the tools needed for Playsimple’s casual games differ dramatically from those required for Playamp’s midcore titles. Accordingly, the two divisions are being equipped with separate tech stacks.
For the Midcore side, MTG has selected portions of Plarium’s technology suite – including the GoGame marketing platform and a product‑detail‑page data system – and is deploying them selectively after a thorough internal assessment of where collaboration makes sense. The company is also adding new features and functionality to these platforms to boost studio productivity.
“We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck,” Redin said, noting that the Playamp division already contains many talented game makers whose work can be amplified by a shared, powerful tech suite. Generative AI is another area of rapid development at MTG.
InnoGames, for example, has been using AI to generate all content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is exploring broader AI‑driven content creation across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI is being woven into many parts of the production pipeline – from A/B testing and graphics creation to quality assurance – and that successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium‑derived tech stack.
“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 explained. “When one company develops something really good, we make sure we can quickly roll that out on a broader scale.” When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creativity, Redin was cautious.
She believes AI can supercharge development speed and efficiency but does not view it as a substitute for the imaginative talent that drives game design. “Our workforce has amazing creativity that doesn’t sit yet within AI,” she said. “If we don’t embrace AI, we will be slower than our competitors. The technology can help us overcome capacity shortfalls and accelerate delivery, but the core ideas still come from people.” Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, while the casual side (Playsimple) contributes roughly 20 %.
Redin is eager to expand both sides, noting that the company acquired Snowprint a few years ago and would welcome additional studios of similar scale. She also hinted at the possibility of adding a third “district” to the gaming village, likely centred around either marketing platforms or data capabilities, though the exact shape of that addition remains under discussion.
Despite the market’s maturity, Redin remains optimistic about growth opportunities. She points out that the top‑ten mobile games list changes very little each year, underscoring the importance of evergreen IPs.
While MTG continues to invest in proven titles like Raid, the company also recognises the need for a fresh pipeline of games. Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new title early next year. Industry observers such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen warn that Western mobile developers are “coasting,” with only a handful of new billion‑dollar games emerging from the West since 2020.
Nonetheless, Redin argues that neglecting new development would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios. “Investing in new games is essential to retain creativity, passion, and drive,” she said.
Looking ahead, Redin acknowledges that hyper‑growth is unlikely to return; most forecasts predict low‑ to mid‑single‑digit growth rates. Yet she believes the market remains compelling, with three billion gamers worldwide competing for attention alongside streaming services and social media.
To exceed modest industry growth, MTG must double‑down on its strong evergreen franchises while also bringing fresh experiences to market, leveraging both AI‑enhanced workflows and a unified, supportive corporate culture.