In February of last year, Sweden's mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million acquisition of Plarium, the developer behind the blockbuster hero‑collecting title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, while already sizable, is only the opening move in a broader strategic playbook, according to MTG's president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set out shortly after the Plarium transaction, is to double MTG’s 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 explained, adding that organic growth will continue to be a priority but that additional acquisitions will be essential to hit the target. The timeline she cited is aggressive: the goal 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 saw the group triple its size in a short period. The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically over the past few years.
Where once the sector was expanding at double‑digit rates, growth has now settled into single‑digit territory, reflecting a maturing market that no longer offers a blue‑ocean of untapped users. In this more competitive environment, gaining market share often means either taking customers from rivals or acquiring those rivals outright. While buying studios is relatively straightforward, integrating them successfully is notoriously difficult; the industry is littered with stories of acquisitions that resulted in studio closures due to poor integration.
MTG, however, believes it has a formula for smoother mergers. Before the Plarium deal, the group already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, including InnoGames (known for Forge of Empires), Snowprint (creator of Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (developer of F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (behind Bloons TD 6), and Futureplay (maker of Merge Gardens). These studios were previously divided into two operational clusters: the Casual District and the Midcore District, the latter covering games that sit between purely casual and fully hardcore experiences. The recent rebranding renamed these clusters Playsimple and Playamp, respectively.
Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp focuses on games that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases (IAPs). This restructuring is more than a cosmetic change; it reflects a strategic intent to build what Redin calls "one of the leading gaming villages." The "gaming village" concept is deliberately community‑oriented.
Redin emphasized that people are MTG’s greatest asset and that fostering an environment where talent can thrive is essential for retaining the founders and teams that come with each acquisition. "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 said.
The underlying belief is that a supportive culture will encourage creativity while still allowing data‑driven decision‑making to guide business outcomes. A key pillar of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Since Redin took the helm in 2020, MTG has pursued a unified tech stack, but the scale required to roll it out effectively only materialised after the Plarium acquisition. "Not everything needs to be built uniquely for every single company," Redin noted, explaining that the company now has the size to implement shared platforms without stifling the distinct needs of each studio.
The approach, however, is nuanced. The tech requirements of Playsimple’s casual titles differ markedly from those of Playamp’s midcore offerings. Consequently, MTG has kept the two divisions on separate technology roadmaps. For Playsimple, the existing tech stack will serve as the foundation for future casual studios joining the district.
For Playamp, MTG has selected components of Plarium’s proprietary suite—such as the GoGame marketing platform and the PDP data platform—and is deploying them selectively across the midcore portfolio. Redin stressed that a thorough internal assessment guided decisions about where tool sharing makes sense and where it does not, aiming to ensure that any shared technology ultimately benefits all studios involved.
Beyond standardisation, MTG is actively enhancing the acquired platforms. The Plarium tools are being expanded with additional features and functionality to raise the overall productivity of the group’s studios.
Redin explained that the company wants to focus resources where they deliver the greatest return, stating, "We have some amazing game makers across the group. And what we want to do now with Playamp is to really supercharge that with a tech suite that they can leverage on, where we are elevating everything that was already done." Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has already been generating all content for its mobile title Sunrise Village using AI and is looking to broaden AI‑driven content creation across its portfolio.
Redin said this mirrors a broader industry trend: AI is being woven into many stages of game production, from asset creation to quality assurance and A/B testing. She described generative AI as "significantly more powerful than any other tool that we got access to before" and emphasized the need to strike a balance between automation and human creativity.
"We keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team, but we can actually leverage completely new levels of technology next to it," she asserted. MTG’s AI strategy involves embedding successful AI solutions from individual studios into the shared Plarium suite, allowing rapid diffusion of best practices.
Redin highlighted the importance of giving each studio freedom to experiment within a broader AI framework, then scaling proven innovations across the group. This collaborative approach aims to keep MTG agile in a market where speed to market can be a decisive advantage. When asked whether AI will eventually replace human developers, Redin was cautious. She believes AI will augment rather than supplant creativity, noting that the imaginative spark of talented teams remains beyond the reach of current AI capabilities.
At the same time, she warned that companies that ignore AI risk falling behind competitors who are already leveraging the technology to accelerate development cycles and improve player experiences. Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. Redin expressed a desire to broaden both sides of the business. She mentioned the recent acquisition of Snowprint and indicated that adding more studios of similar calibre would be ideal.
On the casual side, she hinted at the possibility of a third district that could complement the existing villages, perhaps focused on marketing or data analytics capabilities, though the exact shape of this future unit remains under discussion. Despite the emphasis on acquisitions and technology, Redin reaffirmed MTG’s commitment to evergreen intellectual property. The top‑ten mobile games list changes very little year over year, and MTG’s strategy has long been to invest in titles with proven longevity, such as Raid: Shadow Legends, which still has many years of revenue potential. Nonetheless, she acknowledges that a healthy pipeline of new games is essential to sustain growth and retain the creative DNA of each studio.
Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new title early next year, illustrating the group’s ongoing focus on fresh content. The broader market context is sobering. While the mobile sector still boasts roughly three billion gamers worldwide, growth rates have settled into low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit figures.
Competition for user attention now includes streaming services, social media platforms, and other digital entertainment options. Redin remains optimistic, however, asserting that there is still room for expansion if MTG continues to nurture its evergreen franchises while also bringing new experiences to market. In summary, Maria Redin’s roadmap for MTG combines aggressive acquisition targets, thoughtful rebranding into the Playsimple and Playamp districts, a disciplined approach to technology standardisation, and a forward‑looking embrace of generative AI. By fostering a collaborative "gaming village" culture and balancing the stability of proven IPs with the risk‑taking required for new titles, MTG aims to double its size within the next three to five years and solidify its position as a leading force in the increasingly mature mobile gaming arena.