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. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer, that deal was only the opening move in a much larger plan.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set out after the Plarium transaction, is to double its overall scale once again. "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 but will need to be complemented by further acquisitions. The target timeline is aggressive – roughly three to five years – yet Redin believes the goal is realistic.
She pointed out that MTG pursued a similar ambition in 2021 and, in her words, "I think we tripled" during that period. The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. A few years ago, the sector was expanding at double‑digit rates, but growth has now settled into the single‑digit range, signalling a mature market. What was once an open blue ocean has become a crowded red sea, where gaining market share often means either out‑competing rivals or absorbing them through acquisition.
While buying companies can be straightforward, integrating them successfully is notoriously difficult, and the industry is littered with stories of failed mergers that resulted in studio closures. Redin insists MTG has learned from those lessons and built a clear integration roadmap. Before the Plarium deal, MTG 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 originally grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between pure casual and hardcore experiences.
The districts have now been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the majority of MTG’s portfolio, focusing on games that generate revenue through in‑app purchases. Redin says the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it reflects a broader ambition to create “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term village is intentional, meant to evoke a sense of community that encourages staff to stay and thrive.
Retaining talent is crucial for a company that has rapidly added new studios. "Gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions," Redin noted.
"People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment where they can flourish. When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and teams to stay on board because that’s when the real story begins and we can scale the business further.
The only way to ensure they stay is to build a workplace they enjoy." A major part of MTG’s post‑acquisition strategy has been the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin has pursued this agenda since becoming CEO in 2020, but she says the scale achieved after adding Plarium finally allowed the vision to be fully realised.
The goal is not to force every studio to use the same bespoke system, but to provide a shared foundation where appropriate, reducing duplication and accelerating development. She acknowledges the pitfalls of forced standardisation, citing Electronic Arts’ troubled rollout of the Frostbite engine across its studios as a cautionary tale.
To avoid similar missteps, MTG treats the tech needs of Playsimple and Playamp as distinct. "Playsimple’s tech stack will form the foundation for future companies we onboard in the Casual District," Redin explained. "For Midcore, we have selected parts of Plarium’s tech suite to use group‑wide, but we are rolling it out selectively to ensure the end result benefits all companies.
We have conducted a thorough internal assessment to decide where collaboration makes sense and where it does not." Key components of the shared technology include Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and its product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system, both of which are being expanded with new features. Redin believes these tools will raise the overall output of all studios. "We want to put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck," she said.
"We have amazing game makers across the group, and with Playamp we aim to super‑charge them with a tech suite they can leverage, 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 using AI to generate content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is looking to broaden AI‑driven creation across its portfolio. Redin says the same trend is evident throughout the mobile sector: AI is being woven into production pipelines to accelerate content creation, improve A/B testing, enhance graphics, streamline quality assurance, and more. "Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we have had before," Redin remarked.
"We are all trying to find the right balance – where to change the workflow and where to keep it unchanged. The aim is to leverage new technology to make our games more relevant for players and, ideally, to bring new titles to market faster and better." To ensure the benefits of AI are shared, MTG is embedding successful AI solutions from individual studios into the broader Plarium tech suite. This approach allows different studios to experiment within a common framework, share learnings, and quickly roll out proven innovations across the entire group.
When asked whether AI has become a prerequisite for competing in the fast‑moving mobile market, Redin cautioned against over‑hyping the technology. "I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do? I don’t think so," she said. "What matters most is the creativity of our talent, which AI cannot replicate yet.
However, if we ignore AI we will fall behind competitors. Embracing AI lets us maintain our creative edge while gaining new levels of efficiency." Redin estimates that roughly 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. She is eager to expand both sides of the business.
"We bought Snowprint a couple of years back, and if we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic," she said. On the casual side, MTG currently operates a single studio under Playsimple, yet it still contributes a significant share of income. Redin hinted at the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, perhaps focused on core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes the top‑ten mobile games list remains relatively stable year after year, reinforcing MTG’s long‑term belief in evergreen intellectual properties.
"Our thesis from day one has been that evergreen IPs are the foundation of sustainable growth," she explained. While the company will continue to nurture existing hits like Raid: Shadow Legends, it also recognises the need for a fresh pipeline of titles. Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new game early next year. The broader industry context is challenging.
Supercell’s CEO Ilkka Paananen has warned that Western mobile developers are "coasting," noting that only two of the 22 games that have crossed $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originated from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, with projects like Squad Busters being discontinued after a brief launch. Redin acknowledges the difficulty of creating and scaling successful new games, but she argues that abandoning new‑title development would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios. "Investing in new games keeps the passion and drive alive," she said.
"It’s essential for retaining creativity across the group." Looking ahead, Redin sees a market that, while no longer capable of delivering the hyper‑growth of earlier years, still offers solid opportunities. "We have three billion gamers worldwide, so it is a compelling market," she affirmed. Growth rates now range from low to mid single digits, and surpassing those figures will require continued investment in strong evergreen IPs alongside the launch of fresh experiences.
In summary, MTG’s roadmap under Maria Redin’s leadership combines strategic acquisitions, thoughtful rebranding, technology standardisation, AI integration, and a balanced focus on both established and new titles. The ultimate aim is to double the company’s size within the next few years while fostering a collaborative, village‑like environment that keeps talent engaged and drives sustainable growth in an increasingly competitive mobile gaming landscape.