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 blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal was only the opening move in a broader, more aggressive expansion plan, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the acquisition of Plarium was deliberately positioned as a stepping stone toward a second doubling of the group’s size. “We set out the vision last year that, after bringing Plarium into the fold, we want to double again,” she said.
“Organic growth will remain a priority, but achieving the scale we envision will require further strategic purchases.” The timeline she outlined is bold: MTG aims to accomplish this second doubling within a three‑to‑five‑year window. The ambition is not new; Redin noted that the company pursued a similar target in 2021 and, in her words, “tripled” its size during that period. The rapid expansion reflects the reality that the mobile gaming market, once a blue‑ocean of double‑digit growth, has now settled into a more mature, single‑digit growth environment. In such a market, gaining market share increasingly means either out‑competing rivals for players or absorbing them outright.
While buying studios is relatively straightforward, the real challenge lies in integrating them smoothly. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of acquisitions that resulted in cultural clashes, duplicated technology stacks, and ultimately studio closures.
MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration. Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a suite of successful 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 organized into two “districts”: the Casual District, focused on lighter, ad‑supported experiences, and the Midcore District, which houses games that sit between casual and hardcore and typically rely on in‑app purchases (IAPs). The recent rebranding renamed these divisions Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple now aggregates free‑to‑play, ad‑driven titles, while Playamp concentrates on the IAP‑centric portfolio that makes up the bulk of MTG’s revenue. Redin emphasized that the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a larger vision to create “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is meant to evoke a sense of community and belonging, encouraging talent to stay and thrive within the MTG ecosystem.
She explained that people are MTG’s greatest asset, and retaining founders and development teams after an acquisition is essential for unlocking the full growth potential of each studio. To that end, MTG has been standardising technology and tools across its portfolio.
Redin said that the push for a common tech foundation began when she took the helm in 2020, but the scale required to roll it out effectively only materialised after the Plarium acquisition. “Not everything needs to be built from scratch for each company,” she noted, adding that the standardisation effort is being applied selectively.
The Playsimple division will use its own tech stack as a template for future casual acquisitions, while the Playamp side is adopting elements of Plarium’s technology suite on a case‑by‑case basis. This measured approach aims to avoid the pitfalls seen at other large publishers, such as Electronic Arts’ problematic rollout of the Frostbite engine across unrelated franchises. Two of Plarium’s internal platforms – the GoGame marketing engine and a product‑detail‑page data system – are already being deployed across MTG’s studios. Redin mentioned that the company is also extending these platforms with new features to boost overall studio productivity.
“We want to invest where we get the biggest bang for our buck,” she said, noting that the goal is to super‑charge Playamp’s existing talent with a robust, shared technology suite. Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another pillar of MTG’s modernization strategy. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is exploring broader AI integration across its pipeline. Redin observed that AI is becoming a standard discussion point among mobile publishers, with many seeking the right balance between automation and creative input.
She highlighted that AI is being layered onto existing workflows for tasks such as A/B testing, graphics creation, quality assurance, and analytics. Successful AI tools from individual studios 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 cautioned against such deterministic thinking. “Our talent’s imagination is still something AI can’t replicate,” she said.
Yet she also warned that ignoring AI would leave MTG lagging behind competitors. By pairing human ingenuity with advanced AI capabilities, MTG hopes to accelerate development cycles, improve game quality, and maintain relevance in a crowded market. Financially, roughly 80 % of MTG’s revenue now stems from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % contributed by Playsimple. Redin expressed enthusiasm for expanding both sides of the business.
She cited Snowprint as a recent acquisition and mused about the possibility of adding “five more Snowprints around the world.” On the casual front, she noted that Playsimple is currently a single studio but still accounts for a sizable portion of earnings, and she is open to the idea of a third district that could leverage either MTG’s marketing platforms or data capabilities. Despite the market’s maturation, Redin believes the top‑ten mobile games list remains relatively stable, underscoring the importance of evergreen IPs—titles that generate revenue over many years. Raid: Shadow Legends, for instance, is expected to have a long runway ahead. Nevertheless, she stressed that a pipeline of new games is essential for sustaining creative momentum and preventing stagnation.
Plarium, for example, is preparing to soft‑launch a new title early next year. The broader industry context is sobering. Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen recently warned that Western mobile publishers are “coasting,” noting that only two of the 22 mobile games that have surpassed $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originated in the West.
Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, with the recently cancelled Squad Busters serving as a cautionary tale. Redin acknowledged these challenges, stating that building and scaling a hit game is inherently difficult, but she believes that investing in fresh IPs is crucial to preserving each studio’s creative DNA. Looking ahead, Redin remains optimistic about the market’s overall health. With an estimated three billion gamers worldwide, she sees ample opportunity, even if the era of hyper‑growth is behind us.
“We’re now seeing low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit growth rates,” she explained. “If you want to exceed that baseline, you must double‑down on strong evergreen franchises while also bringing new experiences to market.” In summary, MTG’s strategy under Maria Redin’s leadership is a blend of aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, AI‑enhanced production, and a balanced portfolio of proven evergreen titles and promising new games. The company aims to double its size within five years, build a cohesive "gaming village" that retains talent, and leverage cutting‑edge tools to stay competitive in a mature, highly contested mobile gaming landscape.