In February of the previous year, Sweden’s mobile entertainment leader Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million acquisition of Plarium, the developer behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening move in a broader expansion agenda, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company set a bold vision after the Plarium purchase: "We want to double our size again after the Plarium deal." She added that organic growth will continue to be a priority, but achieving the next‑level scale will require additional acquisitions. The timeline she cited is “roughly three to five years,” a target she believes is realistic because MTG already demonstrated rapid expansion in 2021, when the group roughly tripled its revenue base.
The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has now settled into a single‑digit expansion phase, reflecting a maturing industry. What used to be a blue‑ocean of untapped users has become a crowded red‑sea where growth often means taking market share from competitors or absorbing them outright. Acquiring studios is the easier half of the equation; the real challenge lies in integrating those studios without disrupting creative momentum. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed integrations that culminated in studio closures.
MTG entered the acquisition phase already owning a portfolio of well‑known mobile developers, including InnoGames (Forge of Empires), Snowprint (Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6) and Futureplay (Merge Gardens). Historically these studios were split into two internal groups: the Casual District and the Midcore District—the latter housing games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences.
Following the rebranding effort, these divisions have been renamed Playsimple and Playamp respectively. Playsimple, named after the Indian studio that created WordTrip, aggregates free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp focuses on games that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which now constitute the bulk of MTG’s earnings. Redin emphasized that the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a larger ambition to create “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging, which she believes is essential for retaining talent after a wave of acquisitions. “People are our biggest asset,” she said, “and we must build an environment where they can thrive.
When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and their teams to stay, because that is when the real story begins and the business can be scaled further.” A key component of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin explained that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; a common platform can accelerate development and reduce redundancy.
This standardisation drive began when she took the helm in 2020, but the scale required to roll it out effectively only materialised after Plarium joined the family. The company is now leveraging Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑data platform across the entire MTG ecosystem, while also adding new features to enhance functionality.
Redin is careful to note that the tech needs of Playsimple differ dramatically from those of Playamp, so the two divisions are being equipped with separate toolsets. For the casual side, Playsimple’s stack will become the baseline for future studios entering that district. For the midcore side, MTG has selected elements of Plarium’s technology to deploy group‑wide, but only after a meticulous internal assessment to determine where shared tools make sense and where they do not.
This selective rollout mirrors lessons learned from other industry attempts at forced standardisation, such as Electronic Arts’ controversial push to adopt the Frostbite engine across all its studios, which caused significant friction. Artificial intelligence is another pillar of MTG’s forward‑looking strategy. InnoGames, for example, has been generating all content for its Sunrise Village title using AI for some time and plans to broaden AI‑driven content creation across its portfolio. Redin observes that generative AI is reshaping production pipelines throughout mobile gaming, offering capabilities that far exceed previous tools.
She stresses that the goal is not to replace human creativity but to augment it: “We keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team, but we can leverage completely new levels of technology alongside it.” The company is embedding successful AI solutions from individual studios into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid diffusion of best practices. This includes AI‑enhanced A/B testing, automated graphics generation, quality‑assurance bots, and analytics that inform design decisions.
Redin cautions that while AI is powerful, it cannot replicate the imaginative spark that human developers bring, yet she warns that ignoring AI would leave MTG lagging behind more tech‑savvy rivals. Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now stems from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % contributed by the sole casual studio under the Playsimple banner. Redin is eager to expand both sides: “We bought Snowprint a few years ago; if we could find five more Snowprints worldwide, that would be fantastic.” She also hints at the possibility of adding a third “district” to the gaming village, likely centred around the core capabilities of marketing platforms and data analytics. When asked about the future of mobile titles, Redin notes that the top‑ten charts have remained remarkably stable, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen IPs.
Nonetheless, she acknowledges the necessity of a fresh pipeline: “Raid has many years ahead of it, but we also need new games to keep the creative engine running.” The industry, however, faces headwinds; Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen recently warned that western mobile developers are “coasting,” with only two of the 22 billion‑dollar titles since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, as illustrated by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin concedes that launching successful new games is difficult, but she views it as essential to preserving studio DNA and fostering innovation.
She points to Plarium’s upcoming soft‑launch title slated for early next year as an example of the pipeline in action. In a market that has transitioned from hyper‑growth to modest single‑digit expansion, she remains optimistic: “There are three billion gamers worldwide; it’s a compelling market.
Growth may be slower, but by investing in strong evergreen IPs and continuously bringing fresh experiences to players, we can still achieve meaningful expansion.”