In February of last year, Sweden’s mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the blockbuster 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 explained, adding that organic growth will continue but will be supplemented by further purchases. The target timeline is aggressive: Redin aims to achieve the doubling within roughly three to five years. She noted that MTG already hit a similar milestone in 2021, when the group tripled its scale.
The mobile gaming market, once characterised by double‑digit growth, has now settled into single‑digit expansion as the sector matures. What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has turned a deep red, meaning that future growth will largely depend on taking market share from competitors or absorbing them outright.
Acquiring studios is the easy part; integrating them successfully is where many companies stumble, often resulting in studio closures. Redin insists MTG has a clear roadmap for both acquisition and 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”: the Casual District and the Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences. The districts have now been rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp respectively.
Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp concentrates on games that rely on in‑app purchases, which constitute the bulk of MTG’s revenue. Redin says the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a vision to create “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging, which she believes is essential for retaining talent after rapid expansion. “Gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions,” she said.
“People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment where they can thrive.” A key element of that environment is the standardisation of technology across the group. Since Redin became CEO in 2020, MTG has been working to harmonise tools and platforms, but the scale required to roll out a unified tech stack only materialised after the Plarium deal. The company is now applying a common set of development and analytics tools where it makes sense, while allowing flexibility for the distinct needs of Playsimple and Playamp. For the casual side, Playsimple’s tech foundation will serve as the template for future studios entering that district.
For the midcore side, MTG has selected components of Plarium’s technology suite to share group‑wide, but the rollout is being executed selectively to ensure it adds value for each studio. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system have already been deployed across MTG, and Redin notes that the group is continuously adding new features to enhance them. The goal is to maximise the return on investment by giving studios the best possible infrastructure to develop, market, and monetise their games.
Artificial intelligence is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has been using generative AI to create content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to broaden AI‑driven content creation across its catalogue. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in many production pipelines throughout the mobile sector.
“Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before,” she said, emphasizing the need to strike a balance between automation and human creativity. MTG’s AI strategy focuses on augmenting existing workflows—such as A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance, and analytics—rather than replacing them.
Successful AI solutions developed in individual studios are being folded into the broader Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid dissemination of best practices across the entire group. Redin stresses the importance of giving studios freedom to experiment within an overarching AI framework, then sharing learnings so that breakthroughs can be scaled quickly.
When asked whether AI will eventually render human designers obsolete, Redin was cautious. She believes AI will not replace the core creativity of developers, but she also warns that companies that ignore AI risk falling behind competitors.
“If we don’t embrace AI, we will be slower than our rivals,” she said. “AI can super‑charge everything we do while we keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our teams.” Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple.
Redin is eager to broaden both sides of the portfolio. She cites the recent acquisition of Snowprint and says that adding “five more Snowprints around the world would be fantastic.” On the casual side, the group hopes to increase scale beyond the single Playsimple studio. Looking ahead, Redin hints at the possibility of a third district, which would likely centre on the core capabilities MTG has built—marketing platforms and data infrastructure.
The exact shape of this new district remains under discussion. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin remains confident about the future of mobile gaming.
She notes that the top‑ten mobile titles change little from year to year, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen IPs. While Raid: Shadow Legends will continue to generate revenue for many years, the company also recognises the need for a fresh pipeline of games. Plarium is preparing to soft‑launch a new title early next year, and MTG intends to keep investing in new development to preserve the creative DNA of its studios. Industry observers, such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen, warn that western mobile developers are “coasting,” with only a handful of new billion‑dollar games emerging from the region since 2020.
Redin acknowledges the difficulty of launching successful new titles but argues that without fresh games the industry would lose its innovative spark. In summary, Redin’s strategy for MTG blends aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, AI‑enhanced workflows, and a balanced portfolio of evergreen and new IPs. She believes the mobile gaming market, though no longer experiencing hyper‑growth, still offers a compelling opportunity for companies that can combine strong existing franchises with fresh, well‑executed titles.