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, however, is only the opening move in what MTG’s chief executive, Maria Redin, describes as an aggressive expansion agenda. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company set a bold vision after the Plarium acquisition: to double its overall size once more.
"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 is equally ambitious. Redin aims to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years.
She noted that MTG has already demonstrated the capacity to scale quickly, recalling that the firm tripled its size after a similar ambition was announced in 2021. The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically over the past few years. Rapid double‑digit growth that once characterized the sector has slowed to single‑digit rates, signalling a maturing market. What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped opportunity now resembles a crowded red sea, where growth often means capturing 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. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of poorly managed mergers that culminated in studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration.
Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a suite 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": the Casual District and the Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences.
Following the rebranding, these divisions are now called Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp concentrates on games that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which comprise the bulk of MTG’s portfolio. Redin emphasized that the rebranding goes beyond a cosmetic change.
She wants to build "one of the leading gaming villages," a phrase chosen deliberately to evoke a sense of community and belonging. The goal is to retain talent and foster smooth integration, especially given the rapid pace of acquisitions. "I always say gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions.
People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment where they can thrive," Redin explained. "We buy companies because we want the founders and teams to stay on board after the deal— that's when the real story begins and you can scale the businesses. The only way to ensure they stay is to build a workplace they enjoy." Behind the scenes, MTG has been standardising technology and tools across its portfolio.
Redin noted that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; a shared foundation can accelerate growth. This push for standardisation began when she became CEO in 2020, but the scale required to roll it out fully only materialised after Plarium joined the group. She acknowledged the risks, citing Electronic Arts’ troubled attempt to force all its studios onto the Frostbite engine as a cautionary example.
However, MTG treats the two districts separately, recognising that Playsimple’s needs differ markedly from Playamp’s. "Playsimple and its tech stack will be the foundation for future companies we onboard in the Casual District. For Midcore, we have selected parts of the Plarium tech suite to use group‑wide, but we are rolling it out selectively to ensure the end result benefits all companies," Redin said. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system are already being deployed across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality.
The intent is to maximise return on investment by giving studios powerful, shared tools while preserving the creative freedom that makes each game unique. Generative AI is also reshaping MTG’s production pipeline. InnoGames, for instance, has been using AI to generate content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑driven creation across its portfolio. Redin sees this as part of a broader industry trend: "Most of the people I talk to are having similar discussions about how we embrace new technology in our production chain," she said, adding that generative AI is "significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before." The company is focusing on layering AI onto existing workflows—A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance, and more.
Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the Plarium tech suite for broader use. "We need to allow our studios to experiment, as long as it fits within our overarching AI framework," Redin explained. "When one team develops something valuable, we can quickly roll it out across the group." When asked whether AI has become indispensable in mobile game development, Redin cautioned against hyperbole.
"I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do? I don’t think so. The creativity of our talent isn’t something AI can replicate yet. However, if we don’t adopt AI we will fall behind competitors," she said.
"AI can help us overcome capacity shortfalls in analysis, coding, art, and advanced logic, supercharging our ability to deliver great games faster." Revenue-wise, about 80 % of MTG’s income now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by the single studio in Playsimple. Redin is eager to expand both sides. She cited Snowprint as a model, saying, "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 built around core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes there is still room for growth.
"We have three billion gamers worldwide, so it is a compelling market," she affirmed. "We won’t see the hyper‑growth of the past, but low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit growth is realistic. To exceed that, we need to keep investing in strong evergreen IPs while also bringing new games to market." In practice, this means balancing investment in proven titles like Raid—with many years of revenue ahead—and nurturing fresh IPs to keep the creative engine humming.
Redin acknowledged the challenges, noting that even industry leaders such as Supercell struggle to launch successful new games, but she maintains that a pipeline of new titles is essential for long‑term vitality. Overall, Maria Redin’s roadmap for MTG combines strategic acquisitions, thoughtful rebranding, technology standardisation, and AI integration, all aimed at building a cohesive "gaming village" that can thrive in a competitive, maturing mobile landscape.