In February of last year, Sweden’s mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive, that deal is only the opening act of a much larger plan.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company set a bold vision after the Plarium acquisition: to double MTG’s overall size once again. She emphasized that while organic growth will continue to be a priority, the firm will need to pursue additional take‑overs to hit that target. The timeline is aggressive – she aims to achieve the doubling within three to five years – but she points out that MTG has already proven its ability to scale quickly, noting that the group tripled its size after a similar ambition was announced in 2021. 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 single‑digit territory, reflecting a mature market that no longer offers a blue‑ocean of untapped users. In this environment, gaining market share often means either capturing a competitor’s audience or absorbing the competitor outright.
Acquiring studios is the easy part; integrating them is where many companies stumble. The industry is littered with examples of poorly managed mergers that resulted in studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a clear integration roadmap.
Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile developers, including InnoGames (known for 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 pure casual experiences and hardcore titles. The recent rebranding renamed these divisions Playsimple and Playamp respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, while Playamp houses the majority of MTG’s portfolio, which relies on in‑app purchases.
Redin says the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a broader effort to create a "gaming village" where employees feel a strong sense of belonging. Retaining talent is crucial when a company grows through rapid acquisition. "Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," she explained. "People are our greatest asset, but we must also provide an environment where they can thrive.
When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and their teams to stay on board, because that is when the real story of scaling begins. The only way to keep them is to build a culture they enjoy." A key element of MTG’s integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across its studios. Redin notes that not every product needs a bespoke tech stack; a common foundation can accelerate development and reduce overhead. This standardisation drive began when she took the helm in 2020, but the scale provided by the Plarium acquisition finally gave the company the critical mass needed to roll it out fully.
She acknowledges the risks, citing Electronic Arts’ troubled push to force all its studios onto the Frostbite engine, which caused significant friction on projects like Mass Effect. To avoid similar pitfalls, MTG treats the technical needs of Playsimple and Playamp as distinct. Playsimple’s stack will serve as the baseline for future casual acquisitions, while Playamp will adopt selected components from Plarium’s suite, rolled out selectively after a thorough internal assessment of where shared tools make sense.
Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑data platform are already being leveraged across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. Redin stresses that the goal is to allocate resources where they deliver the greatest return, supercharging the existing talent pool with a robust, shared technology suite. Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑driven creation across its portfolio.
Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in many production pipelines throughout the mobile sector. "Generative AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before," she said, noting that studios are experimenting with AI for A/B testing, graphics, quality assurance and more. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium tech suite, creating a feedback loop where innovations can be rapidly disseminated across the group.
Redin emphasizes a balanced approach: studios are free to experiment within an overarching AI framework, and when a breakthrough occurs, it can be rolled out company‑wide. When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creators, Redin is cautious. She believes creativity and imagination remain uniquely human traits that AI cannot replicate fully. However, she warns that ignoring AI would leave MTG trailing competitors who are already harnessing its speed and efficiency.
"AI can fill capacity gaps and accelerate development, but it will never replace the spark of human creativity," she said. Currently, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue is generated by the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % coming from Playsimple. Redin is eager to broaden the studio roster, noting that they acquired Snowprint a few years ago and would welcome additional studios of similar calibre.
While Playsimple presently consists of a single studio, the company is exploring the possibility of adding a third "district" to its gaming village, likely centred around core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin remains confident in the sector’s long‑term prospects. She points out that the top‑ten mobile games list changes very little each year, underscoring the value of evergreen IPs like Raid.
Nevertheless, she stresses that a pipeline of new titles is essential to keep the creative engine running. Plarium, for instance, has a new game slated for a soft launch early next year. Industry peers such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen have warned that the Western mobile market is “coasting,” with only a handful of new billion‑dollar titles emerging recently. Redin acknowledges the difficulty of launching successful new games but argues that without fresh IPs, studios risk losing the creative DNA that fuels innovation.
In summary, Redin sees a future where MTG continues to grow through a blend of strategic acquisitions, technology standardisation, AI‑enhanced workflows, and a balanced portfolio of evergreen and new titles. While hyper‑growth may be a thing of the past, she believes steady, mid‑single‑digit growth is achievable if the company remains disciplined in investing in proven franchises while also nurturing the next generation of mobile hits.