In February of the previous year, Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collecting title Raid: Shadow Legends. That transaction, however, is only the opening move in a much larger strategic game, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set after the Plarium deal, is to double its overall size 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 to be a priority but that further acquisitions are essential to reach the target.
The timeline she gave is aggressive: MTG aims to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years. The firm is no stranger to rapid expansion – Redin noted that a similar goal was established in 2021, and the group actually tripled its scale during that period. The mobile gaming market, which a few years ago was expanding at double‑digit rates, has now settled into a single‑digit growth trajectory, reflecting a maturing sector.
What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has become a crowded, highly competitive arena where growth often means capturing market share from rivals or, more dramatically, absorbing them outright. Acquiring studios is the relatively easy half of the equation; integrating them smoothly is where many companies stumble. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of poorly managed mergers that culminated in studio closures.
MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration. Before the Plarium purchase, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile developers, 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 organized into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between pure casual and hardcore experiences. Following the acquisition, the districts were 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, which relies on in‑app purchases (IAPs). The rebranding is more than a cosmetic change.
Redin says the ultimate objective is to forge “one of the leading gaming villages.” The phrasing is intentional; she wants to create an environment that people are eager to join and stay in. Retaining talent and ensuring smooth cultural integration are critical when a company expands so quickly through acquisition.
"Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," Redin remarked. "People are our biggest asset, but we also have to cultivate a workplace where they can thrive. When we buy a studio, we want the founders and their teams to remain after the deal, because that’s when the real story begins – scaling the business. The only way to make that happen is to build an environment they enjoy." Behind the scenes, MTG has been standardising technology and tools across its growing ecosystem.
Redin has pursued this tech harmonisation since becoming CEO in 2020, but she says the Plarium acquisition gave MTG the scale needed to roll the vision out fully. The company is careful not to repeat the missteps of other giants; for example, Electronic Arts’ forced adoption of the Frostbite engine caused major friction for studios working on titles like Mass Effect. To avoid similar pitfalls, MTG treats the two districts separately.
The Playsimple stack will serve as the foundation for future casual‑district studios, while the Midcore (Playamp) side will adopt select components of Plarium’s technology suite, but only after a thorough internal assessment determines where shared tools make sense. "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," Redin explained. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system are already being deployed across the group, and MTG is adding new features to enhance them. The goal is to boost studio productivity and ensure the company’s investments generate the highest possible return.
"We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck," Redin said, noting that the Playamp division will be super‑charged with a unified tech suite that elevates existing capabilities. Generative AI is another pillar of MTG’s forward‑looking strategy.
InnoGames, for instance, has been using AI to generate all of the content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑driven creation across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI integration is now a common discussion point across the mobile industry.
"Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before," she said. "We’re all trying to find the right balance – where to change workflows, where to keep them, and where AI can add the most value. Ultimately, it’s about leveraging new technology to make our games more relevant to players and, ideally, to bring new titles to market faster and better." MTG’s AI strategy focuses on layering intelligence onto existing pipelines – for A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance, and more. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid dissemination of best practices across the group.
Redin stresses that while studios are encouraged to experiment within the overarching AI framework, successful innovations will be rolled out company‑wide. When asked whether AI is now a prerequisite for competing in the mobile market, Redin cautioned against fatalism. "I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do? And I actually don’t think so," she replied.
"Our talent’s creativity is still something AI can’t replicate. However, if we don’t embrace AI, we’ll fall behind competitors.
AI can supercharge our work, fill capacity gaps, and help us deliver amazing games faster." Revenue-wise, about 80 % of MTG’s income now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by the casual side, which currently consists of a single studio – Playsimple. Redin expressed enthusiasm for expanding both sides. "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 as well," she said.
She also hinted at the possibility of a third district in the future, one that would build on the core capabilities of the existing marketing and data platforms. From a product perspective, the top‑ten mobile games list has shown remarkable stability over recent years. Redin noted that the same titles keep reappearing in analyses, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen intellectual properties. While the company continues to invest in proven hits like Raid, it also recognises the need for a fresh pipeline.
Plarium, for example, is preparing to soft‑launch a new title early next year. The broader industry context is sobering. Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen warned that Western mobile developers are “coasting,” with only two of the 22 games that have surpassed $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have faced setbacks, such as the recent shutdown of Squad Busters.
Redin acknowledges the difficulty of delivering successful new games but argues that a complete reliance on existing IP would erode the creative DNA of the studios. "Investing in new games keeps the passion and drive alive," she said. "We’ve had hyper‑growth, then a slowdown, and now we’re in a mature market with three billion gamers. There is still growth potential, but it won’t be the explosive rates we saw before.
To exceed low‑single‑digit growth, we must double‑down on evergreen titles while also bringing fresh experiences to market." In summary, MTG’s roadmap under Maria Redin combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, strategic rebranding, technology standardisation, and a measured embrace of generative AI. The aim is to double the company’s size within five years, expand both casual and midcore districts, possibly add a third division, and sustain a pipeline of both evergreen and new titles in a market that has shifted from rapid expansion to steady, competitive maturity.