In February of last year, the Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million acquisition of Plarium, the studio behind the wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal was only the opening move in what MTG’s chief executive, Maria Redin, describes as a much larger growth agenda.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company set a bold vision after the Plarium purchase: to double the size of the group once again. "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 for that doubling is aggressive – Redin aims to achieve it within three to five years. She notes that MTG has already proven its capacity to scale quickly; the firm pursued a similar ambition in 2021 and, according to Redin, actually tripled its revenue and studio count in the ensuing period.
The mobile gaming market, once a blue‑ocean of double‑digit expansion, has now settled into single‑digit growth as the sector matures. This shift means that organic expansion is harder to come by, and companies must either capture market share from rivals or absorb 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 studio closures because of cultural clashes or misaligned processes.
MTG, however, believes it has a roadmap for successful integration. Prior to the Plarium deal, the group already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, 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 historically grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District – the latter covering games that sit between pure casual experiences and more demanding hardcore titles. Following the acquisition, MTG rebranded these districts as Playsimple and Playamp.
Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, aggregates free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, while Playamp houses the majority of MTG’s revenue‑generating titles that rely on in‑app purchases (IAPs). The renaming is more than cosmetic; it signals a broader cultural shift toward building what Redin calls "one of the leading gaming villages." The term "village" is deliberately inviting, meant to foster a sense of belonging among developers, founders, and staff across the growing family of studios. "I always say gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions.
People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment where they can thrive," Redin explained. She emphasized that MTG’s acquisition strategy is predicated on retaining the original founders and teams after a purchase, because the true growth story begins once those teams are empowered to scale their existing projects and launch new ones. To that end, the company is standardising technology and tools across its portfolio, but only where it makes sense.
Standardisation has been a priority since Redin took the helm in 2020, yet she says the scale afforded by the Plarium deal finally allowed MTG to roll out the vision comprehensively. "Not everything needs to be built uniquely for every single company," she noted, adding that the tech stack for Playsimple will serve as a foundation for future casual‑district studios, while the Midcore (Playamp) side will selectively adopt components of Plarium’s technology suite. This selective rollout is guided by a thorough internal assessment that identifies where collaboration on tools yields clear benefits and where it would hinder a studio’s creative workflow.
Key Plarium platforms, such as the GoGame marketing engine and the product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system, are already being shared across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance their utility. Redin believes that concentrating investment in the most impactful technology will amplify the output of all studios. "We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck," she said, noting that the Playamp division already houses a number of world‑class game makers whose work can be supercharged by a common tech suite. Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another pillar of MTG’s modernization effort.
InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated assets for its mobile title Sunrise Village for some time and is exploring broader AI‑driven content creation across its catalogue. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in many stages of game production – from A/B testing and graphics generation to quality assurance and analytics. Successful AI solutions developed in one studio are being packaged into the Plarium tech suite and rolled out company‑wide, 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," Redin said. "Then we share the learnings, and when one company develops something really good, we make sure we can very quickly roll that out on a broader scale." When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creativity, Redin was cautious. She believes that while AI can accelerate production and fill capacity gaps, it cannot replicate the imaginative spark that human teams bring to game design. "Our talent has an amazing creativity that doesn’t sit yet within AI," she remarked.
"If we don’t embrace AI, we will be slower than our competitors. The goal is to keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team while leveraging new technology to supercharge everything we do." Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by the single casual studio under the Playsimple banner. Redin is keen to expand both sides. She cited Snowprint as an example of a studio she would love to replicate globally – "if we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic" – and hinted at the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, perhaps centred around shared marketing platforms or data capabilities.
Despite the market’s maturity, Redin remains confident about growth prospects. The mobile top‑ten list has proven remarkably stable, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen IPs. While Raid: Shadow Legends still has many years of revenue potential, the company also recognises the need for a fresh pipeline. Plarium is slated to soft‑launch a new title early next year, and MTG continues to scout for promising concepts that can become the next long‑term performer.
Industry observers such as Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen warn that the western mobile market is "coasting," noting that only two of the 22 games that have exceeded $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originated from the West. Yet even Supercell has struggled to turn new incubated projects into hits, underscoring the difficulty of creating breakthrough titles in a saturated space. Redin acknowledges these challenges but insists that a balanced portfolio of evergreen franchises and new releases is essential for sustained relevance. "If you stop investing in new games, you lose a part of the DNA of the different studios," she said.
"That creativity, passion, and drive are what keep the ecosystem vibrant." In summary, MTG’s strategy under Maria Redin is built on three pillars: aggressive acquisition and integration, technology standardisation (including AI), and a dual focus on maintaining strong evergreen IPs while nurturing a pipeline of fresh experiences. With a target to double its size within the next three to five years, the Swedish group is betting that a cohesive "gaming village" – where studios share tools, data, and culture – will enable it to thrive in a market that has shifted from rapid expansion to steady, competitive growth.