In February of last year, the 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, however, is only the opening act of a much larger growth narrative, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the ambition set after the Plarium acquisition is to double the group’s scale once more. "We laid out the vision last year that, following the Plarium deal, we want to double again in size," she explained.
"We’ll continue to drive organic growth, but to reach that target we’ll need to pursue additional acquisitions." The timeline she cited is aggressive: the aim is to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years. MTG has precedent for rapid expansion – the company tripled its size after a similar ambition was declared in 2021. The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has now settled into a single‑digit expansion phase, reflecting a maturing ecosystem.
What used to be a blue‑ocean of untapped users has turned into a red‑hot arena where growth often means taking market share from rivals or absorbing them outright. Acquiring studios is the easier half of the equation; integrating them successfully is where many companies stumble, leading to studio closures and wasted investment.
Redin insists that MTG has a clear integration playbook to avoid those pitfalls. Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of 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.
The recent rebranding renamed these districts Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp focuses on games that rely primarily on in‑app purchases, which now represent the bulk of MTG’s revenue.
Redin says the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a broader effort to create “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term is deliberately warm, intended to foster a sense of community that encourages talent retention and smooth integration of newly acquired teams. "Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decisions," she noted. "People are our biggest asset, but we must also build 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 and the business can scale." She stresses that the only way to keep those teams engaged is by offering a workplace they enjoy. A key component of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin has championed this approach since becoming CEO in 2020, but she believes the Plarium acquisition gave MTG the scale needed to roll it out fully.
The plan is not to force every studio onto a single platform; rather, the tech stacks are tailored to the needs of each district. Playsimple’s stack will serve as a foundation for future casual acquisitions, while the Midcore district will adopt selected elements of Plarium’s technology suite in a measured, selective rollout. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system are already being deployed across MTG, with additional features and functionality being added to enhance their utility.
Redin explains that the goal is to concentrate resources where they generate the greatest return, supercharging the existing talent pool with a shared tech suite that raises the overall quality of output. Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is also reshaping MTG’s production pipeline. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated assets for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑driven content creation across its portfolio.
Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in many stages of game development – from A/B testing and graphics creation to quality assurance and analytics. Successful AI tools pioneered in individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium‑derived tech suite, allowing rapid diffusion of best practices throughout the organisation.
When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creators, Redin is cautious. She believes AI can accelerate processes and fill capacity gaps, but the core creativity and vision of developers remain irreplaceable.
"If we ignore AI, we’ll fall behind competitors," she said. "We keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team, and we augment it with new levels of technology." Revenue-wise, about 80 % of MTG’s income now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. Redin is eager to broaden both sides of the business.
She mentions the recent acquisition of Snowprint and expresses interest in finding “five more Snowprints” worldwide. Although Playsimple currently consists of a single studio, she envisions adding more casual studios and even a potential third district that would leverage the group’s core capabilities in marketing and data analytics.
Despite the market’s maturity, Redin maintains confidence in continued growth. She points out that the top‑ten mobile games list changes very little each year, underscoring the importance of evergreen IPs like Raid: Shadow Legends, which she believes still has many years of revenue potential.
At the same time, she acknowledges the necessity of a fresh pipeline: “We need new games to keep the creative DNA of our studios alive.” 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,” noting that only two of the 22 mobile games surpassing $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originated in the West. Yet Redin argues that a balanced strategy—investing in proven evergreen titles while nurturing new IPs—remains the most viable path forward in a market that now sees low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit growth rates. By combining robust, data‑backed tech infrastructure, AI‑enhanced workflows, and a culture that values both stability and innovation, MTG aims to sustain its momentum and continue expanding its global gaming village.