Maria Redin of MTG Discusses Rebranding, Acquiring Raid: Shadow Legends, and Ambitions to Double Company Size

In February of the previous year, Sweden’s mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the wildly popular hero‑collection game Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening move in a broader expansion plan, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set after the Plarium acquisition, is to double its size once more. “We set out the vision last year that, post‑acquisition of Plarium, we want to double yet again in size,” she said.

“And yes, we want to fuel and continue to drive organic growth, but in order to do that, we will need to do more acquisitions.” The timeline is aggressive: Redin estimates the doubling could be achieved within three to five years. She noted that MTG had already pursued a similar target in 2021, when the group tripled its scale. The mobile market, which a few years ago was expanding at double‑digit rates, has now settled into single‑digit growth, reflecting a mature, highly competitive landscape.

What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has turned red, meaning future growth will largely come from capturing rivals’ market share or absorbing them entirely. Acquiring companies is the easier side of the equation; integrating them is where many firms stumble.

The industry is littered with stories of poorly handled mergers that ended in studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a roadmap for successful integration. Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, including InnoGames (Forge of Empires), Snowprint (Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6), and Futureplay (Merge Gardens).

These studios were grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between 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 bulk of MTG’s portfolio, focusing on games that generate revenue through in‑app purchases.

The rebranding is more than a cosmetic change. Redin says the goal is to build “one of the leading gaming villages.” She explains that the term is meant to evoke a sense of community that people want to join. Retaining talent and fostering a cohesive culture are critical when a company rapidly adds new studios.

"Gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions," Redin remarked. "People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment where they can thrive.

When we acquire a company, we want the founders and their teams to stay on board because that’s when the real story begins and we can scale the business. The only way to ensure they stay is to make the workplace enjoyable." Behind the scenes, MTG has been standardising technology and tools across its divisions—a priority since Redin became CEO in 2020. The Plarium acquisition gave the group the scale needed to roll out this vision fully. Redin acknowledges past failures in the industry, such as Electronic Arts’ forced adoption of the Frostbite engine, which caused headaches for studios working on titles like Mass Effect.

She stresses that the tech stacks for Playsimple and Playamp differ considerably, so the standardisation effort is tailored to each district. "Playsimple’s tech stack will become the foundation for future casual‑district companies," she 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 studios. We conducted a thorough internal assessment to decide where collaboration makes sense and where it does not." Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑data platform (PDP) are now shared across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. Redin believes this will boost the 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 supercharge them with a tech suite they can leverage, elevating everything that’s already been done." Generative AI is another pillar of MTG’s strategy. 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 sees this as a broader industry trend: AI is being woven into production pipelines to accelerate development and improve quality.

"Most of the industry is having similar discussions on how to embrace new technology," she noted. "Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any tool we’ve had before. We’re figuring out the right balance—where to change workflows, where to keep them, and where AI can add the most value. Ultimately, it’s about making our games more relevant to players and getting new titles to market faster and better." The company is adding AI layers to existing tools for A/B testing, graphics creation, quality assurance, and more.

Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being integrated into the Plarium tech suite for broader use. Redin emphasizes a flexible approach: studios can experiment within the overarching AI framework, and successful innovations are rapidly shared across the group. When asked whether AI is now indispensable for competing in the mobile market, Redin cautioned against overstatement. "I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do?

I don’t think so. Our talent’s creativity is still something AI can’t replicate.

However, if we don’t embrace AI we will fall behind competitors. AI can supercharge everything we do while we keep the human creativity, innovation, and vision." Revenue-wise, about 80 % of MTG’s earnings come from the Playamp division, with the casual side (Playsimple) contributing roughly 20 %. Redin is eager to broaden the studio roster, saying, "We bought Snowprint a couple of years back, and if we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic. On the casual side we’d like to add more scale." Currently, Playsimple is the sole studio in the casual district, but Redin hinted at the possibility of a third district in the future, built around core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data assets.

Regarding the game pipeline, Redin observes that the mobile top‑ten remains remarkably stable year after year. "Our thesis from day one has been to believe in evergreen IPs," she said. While MTG continues to invest in proven titles like Raid, it also recognises the need for fresh games to keep the creative engine humming.

Plarium, for instance, has a new title slated for soft launch early next year. The broader market context is one of maturity. With roughly three billion gamers worldwide, the sector is still attractive, but hyper‑growth has given way to low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit expansion.

Redin concludes that sustained growth will require a blend of strong evergreen properties and a steady flow of new releases, supported by technology, talent, and a culture that encourages both.