In February of the previous year, the Swedish mobile entertainment conglomerate Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer, that transaction was only the opening move in a much larger expansion plan. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company set a bold vision after the Plarium deal: “Following the acquisition, we intend to double our size once again.” She added that organic growth will continue to be a priority, but achieving the next‑level scale will require “more acquisitions.” The timeline she outlined is aggressive—aiming to realize the doubling within roughly three to five years. She noted that MTG has already demonstrated an ability to meet lofty targets, recalling that a similar ambition set in 2021 resulted in a tripling of the business.
The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. A few years ago, the sector was experiencing double‑digit growth rates, but those figures have now settled into single‑digit territory as the market matures. What once felt like a blue ocean of untapped users has turned a deep red, meaning that future expansion will likely come from taking market share from competitors or absorbing them outright.
Acquiring companies is the easier half of the equation; integrating them successfully is where many firms stumble. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of acquisitions that led to studio closures due to poor integration.
MTG, however, believes it has a roadmap to avoid those pitfalls. Before adding Plarium to its portfolio, MTG already owned a suite of mobile studios, including InnoGames (creator of Forge of Empires), Snowprint (Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6), and Futureplay (Merge Gardens). These studios were originally grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District (the latter covering games that sit between purely casual and hardcore experiences).
The recent rebranding renamed these divisions Playsimple and Playamp. Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the majority of MTG’s portfolio—games that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases. Redin emphasized that the rebranding is about more than a fresh label; it reflects a cultural ambition to create “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is intentionally warm, meant to foster a sense of belonging among employees.
Retaining talent is crucial for a company that has grown rapidly through acquisitions. “Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making,” Redin said. “Our people are our greatest asset, but we must also build an environment where they can thrive.” She explained that MTG’s acquisition strategy includes keeping founders and development teams on board after a purchase, because the real growth story begins once those teams are integrated and empowered. A key component of the integration effort is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Redin noted that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; instead, MTG is rolling out shared platforms where it makes sense. This standardisation drive began when she became CEO in 2020, but the scale required to implement it fully only materialised after the Plarium acquisition. The company is careful to differentiate between the needs of the Playsimple and Playamp divisions, recognising that casual‑focused games and midcore titles demand different technical solutions.
For the Playamp side, MTG has adopted parts of Plarium’s technology suite, deploying it selectively after a thorough internal assessment of where collaboration would add value. The casual side, Playsimple, will use its own foundational tech stack as the basis for future studios that join the Casual District.
Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system are already being leveraged across MTG, with additional features being built to enhance their capabilities. The overarching goal is to allocate resources where they generate the highest return on investment.
“We have amazing game makers across the group,” Redin said. “With Playamp we want to super‑charge them with a tech suite that elevates everything they already do.” Generative AI is another pillar of MTG’s modernization agenda. The technology is reshaping content creation across the mobile sector.
For example, InnoGames disclosed that much of the content for its Sunrise Village title has been generated by AI for some time, and the studio plans to broaden AI‑driven production across its portfolio. Redin observed that many industry peers are having similar conversations about embedding AI into their pipelines. She described generative AI as “significantly more powerful than any tool we’ve had before,” and stressed the importance of finding the right balance between automation and human creativity.
MTG’s AI strategy focuses on layering intelligent tools onto existing workflows—enhancing A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance, and more. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being packaged into the Plarium‑derived tech suite for company‑wide rollout. “We allow studios to experiment within our AI framework, share learnings, and quickly propagate breakthroughs across the group,” Redin explained.
When asked whether AI is now indispensable for competing in the fast‑moving mobile market, Redin cautioned against over‑hyping the technology. She believes that human creativity remains irreplaceable, but acknowledges that firms that ignore AI risk falling behind. “If we don’t embrace AI, we’ll be slower than our competitors,” she said. “AI can help us overcome capacity shortfalls in coding, art, and advanced logic, allowing us to maintain the creative vision while accelerating development.” Revenue-wise, roughly 80 % of MTG’s earnings stem from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % contributed by Playsimple.
Redin expressed a desire to broaden the studio roster, noting that MTG acquired Snowprint a few years ago and would welcome additional studios of similar caliber. She also hinted at the possibility of adding a third “district” to the gaming village, which would likely centre around core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics.
Despite the rapid changes in the market, the top‑ten mobile games list remains relatively stable year after year. Redin reaffirmed MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen intellectual property, citing Raid: Shadow Legends as an example of a title with many years of revenue potential ahead. Nevertheless, she stressed the importance of maintaining a pipeline of new games to keep the creative engine humming. “Investing in new titles is essential to retain the DNA of our studios—creativity, passion, and drive,” she said.
The broader industry context is sobering. Supercell’s CEO Ilkka Paananen has warned that the Western mobile market is “coasting,” with only two of the 22 games that have generated over $1 billion since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, as illustrated by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters after its 2024 launch.
Redin acknowledges these challenges, noting that Plarium has a new game slated for a soft launch early next year. She believes that while hyper‑growth may be a thing of the past, there remains ample opportunity in a market of three billion gamers worldwide.
Growth rates are now expected to hover in the low‑ to mid‑single‑digit range, and exceeding that will require a dual focus on strengthening evergreen IPs and bringing fresh experiences to market. In summary, MTG’s strategy under Maria Redin’s leadership combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, and AI‑enhanced production to pursue a doubling of size within a five‑year horizon.
The company aims to nurture a cohesive “gaming village” that retains talent, leverages shared tools, and balances the reliability of proven franchises with the innovation of new titles—all while navigating a maturing, highly competitive mobile gaming ecosystem.