In February of the previous year, Sweden’s mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the wildly popular hero‑collection game Raid: Shadow Legends. That transaction, however, is only the opening move in a broader expansion plan, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set after the Plarium deal, is to double its size once more 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, but Redin noted that MTG has already demonstrated a capacity for rapid scaling.
The firm pursued a similar target in 2021 and, as she put it, “I think we tripled.” This reflects the broader reality of the mobile gaming market, which has shifted from the double‑digit growth of a few years ago to a more modest single‑digit pace as the sector matures. What was once a blue‑ocean landscape has turned a deep red, meaning that future expansion will often involve taking market share from rivals or absorbing them outright.
Acquiring studios is the relatively easy part; integrating them into a cohesive organization is where many companies stumble. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed mergers that culminated in studio closures.
MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration. Before buying Plarium, MTG already owned a suite of mobile developers, including InnoGames (known for Forge of Empires), Snowprint (creator of Warhammer 40,000: Tacticus), Hutch (F1 Clash), Ninja Kiwi (Bloons TD 6), and Futureplay (Merge Gardens). These studios were originally grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between pure casual experiences and hardcore titles. The recent rebranding has renamed these divisions Playsimple and Playamp, respectively.
Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, aggregates free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, while Playamp houses the majority of MTG’s portfolio, which relies on in‑app purchases (IAPs). Redin emphasized that the rebranding is more than a cosmetic change; it is part of a larger vision to build “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is intentionally warm, meant to foster a sense of community that encourages talent to stay and thrive.
“I always say 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 component 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 scale required to roll it out fully only arrived with the Plarium acquisition. “Not everything needs to be built uniquely for every single company,” she noted. The plan is to apply a common tech stack where it makes sense, while allowing flexibility where the needs differ.
For example, the Playsimple division will use a foundation tech suite that will become the baseline for future casual acquisitions, whereas the Midcore (Playamp) side will adopt selected elements of Plarium’s technology, deployed selectively after a thorough internal assessment. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and its product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system are already being shared across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality. Redin believes this will raise the overall output of all studios: “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 what we want to do now with Playamp is to really supercharge that with a tech suite that they can leverage on, where we are elevating everything that was already done.” Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another pillar of MTG’s future strategy.
The technology is already reshaping content creation at InnoGames, where AI has been used to generate assets for the mobile title Sunrise Village and is being expanded across the studio’s pipeline. Redin sees this as part of a broader industry trend: “I would say for most parties I speak to in the industry, we are all having similar discussions on how we are embracing new technology in our production chain.” She described generative AI as “significantly more powerful than any other tool that we got access to before.” The company’s AI roadmap focuses on augmenting existing workflows rather than replacing them. Applications include A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance, and analytics.
Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being folded into the shared Plarium tech suite, allowing rapid diffusion 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. Then we share the learnings, and when one company’s developing something really good, we make sure we can very quickly roll that out on a broader scale.” When asked whether AI has become a prerequisite for competing in the hyper‑competitive 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.
What is important is that our talent, our workforce has an amazing creativity. That doesn’t sit yet within AI.” Yet she warned that ignoring AI would leave MTG trailing its rivals: “If we don’t embrace AI, we are going to be slower than what our competitors are.
AI can super‑charge everything we do while we keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team.” Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now flows from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by the casual side, which currently consists of a single studio—Playsimple. Redin expressed a desire 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. And on the casual side, we would like to add more scale.” She hinted at the possibility of a third district, built around core capabilities such as marketing platforms or data analytics, though the exact shape remains under discussion.
Despite the focus on acquisitions and technology, MTG’s outlook on game development remains grounded in the reality that the mobile top‑ten charts change little over time. “Every year we do the same analysis, and you realise that the top games remain very consistent,” Redin observed. The company’s long‑standing thesis is to back evergreen IPs—games that generate steady revenue for years. Raid: Shadow Legends, for instance, still has many years of life ahead, but MTG also recognises the necessity of a fresh pipeline.
“We believe in making new games, because you need to continue to have a pipeline of games coming to the market,” she said, acknowledging the difficulty of launching successful new titles. Industry peers such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen have warned that Western mobile developers are “coasting,” with only two of the 22 mobile games that have surpassed $1 billion since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have faced setbacks, exemplified by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin agreed that creating and scaling a hit game is hard, but she stressed that new titles are essential to preserving the creative DNA of each studio.
Looking ahead, Redin believes the market remains attractive despite its maturity. “We have three billion gamers out there, so is it a compelling market?
Yes, it is.” She anticipates growth rates in the low to mid single digits rather than the explosive double‑digit spikes of the past. To exceed those modest figures, MTG will need to continue investing in its strong evergreen portfolio while also bringing fresh experiences to players. In summary, MTG’s strategy under Maria Redin’s leadership combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful rebranding, technology standardisation, and selective AI adoption to build a cohesive “gaming village.” The goal is to double the company’s size within five years, retain talent, and sustain revenue growth by leveraging both proven franchises and new game development, all while navigating the challenges of a saturated, yet still sizable, mobile gaming market.