In February of last year, Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening act of a much larger ambition, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set out after the Plarium acquisition, is to double the group’s scale once again. “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 for that expansion is bold: Redin aims to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years.
She noted that MTG has already demonstrated the capacity to grow quickly, recalling a 2021 ambition that resulted in a tripling of the firm’s size. The mobile gaming sector, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has now settled into single‑digit expansion as the market matures.
What was once a blue ocean of untapped opportunity has become a fiercely contested red sea, where growth often means taking market share from rivals or absorbing them outright. Acquiring studios is the easier half of the equation; integrating them is where many companies stumble. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed integrations that led to studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap.
Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, 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 split into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences. The districts have recently been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based studio behind WordTrip, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the majority of MTG’s portfolio, focused on games that generate revenue through in‑app purchases.
The rebranding is more than cosmetic. Redin says the goal is to create “one of the leading gaming villages.” The phrasing is intentional, meant to foster a sense of community that encourages talent to stay and thrive. “Gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions,” she explained. “People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment for them to thrive in.
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.” A key part of the integration effort is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin has pursued this agenda since becoming CEO in 2020, but she says the Plarium deal gave MTG the scale needed to roll it out fully. The approach is selective: Playsimple’s tech stack will serve future casual‑district acquisitions, while the Midcore division will adopt portions of Plarium’s suite where they add clear value.
“We’ve done a very thorough internal assessment on where it makes sense that we collaborate and share technical tools, and where it doesn’t make sense,” Redin noted. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑data platform are already being used across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. The intention is to boost studio productivity and ensure that investment is directed where it yields the greatest return. Redin summed it up: “We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck.
We have some amazing game makers across the group, and with Playamp we want to really super‑charge that with a tech suite they can leverage.” Artificial intelligence is another pillar of MTG’s forward‑looking strategy. Generative AI is already reshaping content creation at InnoGames, where all assets for the mobile title Sunrise Village are produced with AI assistance, and the company plans to extend AI‑generated content across its portfolio.
Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in production pipelines throughout the mobile sector. “Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before,” she said, adding that the industry is collectively figuring out how to balance AI integration with existing workflows. MTG’s AI roadmap focuses on layering intelligent tools onto current processes such as A/B testing, graphics creation, quality assurance and analytics.
Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid dissemination of best practices. “We need to allow our different studios to try different things, as long as it fits into our overarching AI framework on the dos and don’ts,” Redin explained. “Then we share the learnings, and when one company develops something really good, we make sure we can quickly roll that out on a broader scale.” When asked whether AI has become indispensable in the hyper‑competitive mobile market, Redin cautioned against overstating its capabilities. “I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do?
And I actually don’t think so. What’s important is that our talent has amazing creativity, and that doesn’t sit yet within AI,” she said. Nevertheless, she stressed that ignoring AI would leave MTG lagging behind rivals.
“If we don’t embrace AI, we are going to be slower than our competitors. AI can super‑charge everything we do while we keep the creativity, innovation and vision of our team.” Revenue-wise, roughly 80 % of MTG’s earnings now come from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by the casual side, currently represented by a single studio – Playsimple. Redin is eager to broaden 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.
She also hinted at the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, likely built around core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data infrastructure. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes evergreen IPs will continue to dominate the top‑ten mobile charts, which change little year over year.
The company’s strategy therefore blends investment in proven titles like Raid with a pipeline of new games. Plarium, for example, is slated to soft‑launch a fresh title early next year. Redin acknowledges the difficulty of launching successful new games, citing industry examples such as Supercell’s recent struggles with new titles, but argues that a continuous flow of fresh IP is essential to retain creative DNA and drive growth. In the broader context, Redin sees a market still worth pursuing.
“We have three billion gamers out there, so is it a compelling market? Yes,” she affirmed. While hyper‑growth may be a thing of the past, the industry still offers low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit expansion.
To exceed that baseline, MTG plans to double down on both its strong evergreen portfolio and the development of new experiences, leveraging technology, AI, and a unified corporate culture to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded space.