In February of last year, the Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million acquisition of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive, that deal is only the opening move in a broader expansion playbook.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set out after the Plarium purchase, is to double its overall size again within the next three to five years. "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, yet Redin points out that MTG has already demonstrated a capacity for rapid scaling. In 2021 the group pursued a similar target and, according to her, succeeded in tripling its footprint.
This history gives the leadership confidence that a 2‑times increase is realistic, even as the mobile market has shifted from the double‑digit growth of a few years ago to a more modest single‑digit pace. The sector’s maturation means that organic expansion is harder to achieve; growth now often comes from capturing market share from rivals or, more commonly, by absorbing them outright. Buying companies is the easier half of the equation.
The real challenge lies in integrating those studios into a coherent whole without triggering the kind of cultural clashes and operational breakdowns that have plagued other conglomerates. Redin acknowledges the risk, noting the industry’s litany of failed integrations that have ended in studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap.
Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a suite 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 grouped into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District, the latter covering games that sit between purely casual and hardcore experiences. Following the acquisition, the districts were rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively.
Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the bulk of MTG’s portfolio, which relies on in‑app purchases. Redin says the rebranding is more than cosmetic.
She envisions MTG evolving into "one of the leading gaming villages," a phrase meant to evoke a sense of community and belonging for employees. Retaining talent after a purchase is a top priority, because the real value of an acquisition emerges when the original founders and teams stay on board and continue to scale the business.
"People are one of our biggest assets," Redin explained, "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." A key pillar of the integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Since Redin took the helm in 2020, MTG has been working toward a common tech stack, but the Plarium acquisition gave the scale needed to roll it out fully. The company is careful not to repeat the missteps of other firms—such as Electronic Arts’ forced adoption of the Frostbite engine, which caused friction on projects like Mass Effect.
Instead, MTG tailors its tech suites to the needs of each district. Playsimple’s stack will serve as a foundation for future casual acquisitions, while the Midcore (Playamp) side will selectively adopt components of Plarium’s technology, after a thorough internal assessment of where sharing tools makes sense.
Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system have already been rolled out across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. Redin emphasises that the goal is to maximise impact: "We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck." Artificial intelligence is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has been using generative AI to produce all of the content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑driven creation across its portfolio. Redin notes that AI is being woven into many production pipelines—A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance and more.
Successful AI tools developed in one studio are being incorporated into the broader Plarium‑derived tech suite, allowing rapid diffusion of best practices. When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creativity, Redin cautions against such deterministic thinking. "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 said. "What is important is that our talent has amazing creativity, which doesn’t sit yet within AI. However, if we don’t embrace AI we will be slower than our competitors." Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by the single casual studio Playsimple. Redin is eager to broaden both sides of the business.
She cites Snowprint as a model: "We bought Snowprint a couple of years back, and if we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic." She also hints at the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, likely centred around the core capabilities of marketing platforms and data analytics. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin remains confident about growth prospects. She points out that the mobile top‑ten charts are remarkably stable, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen intellectual property.
While Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of life left, MTG continues to invest in new titles to keep the pipeline fresh. Plarium, for instance, has a new game slated for soft launch early next year.
The broader industry context is sobering. Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen has warned that western mobile developers are "coasting," with only two of the 22 titles that have crossed $1 billion since 2020 originating from the West. Yet Redin argues that abandoning new‑game development would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios.
"Investing in new games is essential to retain creativity, passion, and drive," she said. In summary, MTG’s strategy under Redin’s leadership blends aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, AI augmentation, and a balanced portfolio of evergreen hits and fresh titles. The aim is to double the company’s size within a few years while maintaining a vibrant, collaborative culture that can adapt to a competitive, maturing mobile gaming landscape.