Maria Redin of MTG Discusses Rebranding, Acquiring Raid: Shadow Legends, and Plans to Double Company Size

In February of last 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 transaction, however, is only the opening move in a broader expansion plan, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company set a clear vision after the Plarium deal: “We want to double the size of MTG again.” While organic growth will still be a priority, she added that additional acquisitions will be essential to hit that target.

The timeline is aggressive – the aim is to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years. Redin noted that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to scale quickly, pointing to a 2021 ambition that resulted in a three‑fold increase in size.

The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. What was once a rapidly expanding, double‑digit growth market has settled into single‑digit growth, reflecting a maturing sector. The once‑blue ocean now looks more like a crowded red sea, where gaining market share often means either taking customers from rivals or absorbing competitors outright. Acquiring studios is the easy part; integrating them is where many companies stumble.

The industry is littered with stories of poorly managed mergers that end in studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a roadmap to avoid those pitfalls. Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned several mobile developers, 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.

Following the Plarium acquisition, the districts were rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles.

Playamp contains the portfolio of games that rely primarily on in‑app purchases, which currently generate about 80 % of MTG’s revenue. The rebranding is more than cosmetic; Redin says the goal is to create “one of the leading gaming villages,” a community‑focused environment designed to retain talent and foster collaboration across the growing family of studios. “Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making,” Redin explained.

“Our people are our greatest asset, but they need an environment where they can thrive. When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and their teams to stay on board because that’s when the real story begins – scaling the business together.” To that end, MTG is standardising technology and tools across the group, a project that gained momentum after Plarium joined the fold. Redin noted that the scale provided by the Plarium deal finally allowed MTG to roll out its tech vision at enterprise level.

Standardisation can be a double‑edged sword. EA’s forced adoption of the Frostbite engine, for example, caused significant friction for teams working on titles like Mass Effect. MTG is mindful of those lessons and is treating the two districts differently. The Playsimple stack will serve as the foundation for future casual acquisitions, while the Midcore (Playamp) side will selectively adopt components of Plarium’s technology suite.

Redin said a thorough internal assessment determined where shared tools make sense and where bespoke solutions are necessary. 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 functionality.

The aim is to concentrate resources where they deliver the greatest return, supercharging the existing talent pool with a robust, shared tech suite. Artificial intelligence is another pillar of MTG’s strategy.

InnoGames, for instance, has been generating all content for its mobile title Sunrise Village using AI for some time and is looking to broaden AI‑driven creation across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in production pipelines throughout the mobile sector.

“Generative AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before,” she said, noting that the industry is collectively figuring out how to balance workflow changes with preserving creative integrity. MTG’s AI approach focuses on augmenting, not replacing, human creativity. The company is adding AI layers to existing processes such as A/B testing, graphics creation, and quality assurance. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being folded into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid cross‑studio dissemination of best practices.

Redin cautioned against the notion that AI will eventually do all the work of game developers, emphasizing that human imagination remains a critical differentiator. Revenue-wise, the Playamp division accounts for roughly 80 % of MTG’s earnings, while Playsimple contributes about 20 %. Redin expressed a desire to grow both sides, citing Snowprint as a model: “If we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic.” She also hinted at the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, likely centred on core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics.

When asked about the future of mobile gaming, Redin noted that the top‑ten charts have remained remarkably stable, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen IPs. While Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of life left, the company continues to invest in new titles to keep the pipeline fresh. Plarium, for example, is preparing to soft‑launch a new game early next year. The broader market context is less rosy.

Industry observers like Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen warn that western mobile gaming is “coasting,” with only two of the 22 billion‑dollar titles since 2020 originating from the West. Nonetheless, Redin remains optimistic: “We have three billion gamers worldwide, so the market is still compelling.

Growth will be modest – low to mid single‑digit – but by nurturing evergreen franchises and introducing new games, we can exceed that baseline.” In summary, MTG’s roadmap combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, unified technology, and AI‑enhanced production to double its size within a few years while preserving the creative spark that drives its studios forward.