In February of last year, Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million acquisition of Plarium, the developer behind the wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. According to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer, that deal was only the opening move in a broader plan to expand the business dramatically. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set out after the Plarium purchase, is to double MTG’s overall 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 to be a priority but that further acquisitions will be essential to achieve the target. The timeline she cited is aggressive: the goal is to accomplish this scaling within roughly three to five years. She noted that MTG has already demonstrated the capacity to meet lofty ambitions, pointing out that a similar objective set in 2021 resulted in a tripling of the firm’s scale. The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically over the past few years.
Where once the sector enjoyed double‑digit growth, it now registers only single‑digit increases, reflecting a market that is maturing quickly. The early “blue‑ocean” environment has turned “red” – competition is fierce, and growth increasingly means either capturing market share from rivals or absorbing them through acquisitions.
While buying companies can be straightforward, the real challenge lies in integrating them successfully. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of failed integrations that led to studio closures, but Redin believes MTG has a clear roadmap to avoid those pitfalls.
Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile studios, 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 casual and hardcore experiences. Following the acquisition, the districts were rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively.
Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, focuses on free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp houses games that rely primarily on in‑app purchases, which now represent the bulk of MTG’s revenue. Redin emphasized that the rebranding is more than cosmetic; it is part of a larger effort to create what she calls “one of the leading gaming villages.” The terminology is intentional, designed to foster a sense of community and belonging among employees. Retaining talent and ensuring smooth cultural integration are critical when a company expands rapidly through acquisitions. "People are one of our biggest assets," Redin said, "but you also need to create an environment where they can thrive.
We buy companies because we want the founders and teams to stay on board after the deal, as that’s when the real story begins and we can scale the businesses further. The only way to make them stay is to build a workplace they enjoy." A key element of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the MTG ecosystem.
Redin noted that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; instead, a shared foundation can drive efficiency. This standardisation push began when she took the helm in 2020, but the scale required to roll it out fully only materialised after Plarium joined the group. She referenced past industry missteps, such as Electronic Arts’ forced adoption of the Frostbite engine, which caused significant friction for studios working on titles like Mass Effect.
Learning from those examples, MTG tailors its tech approach: Playsimple’s stack serves as the baseline for future casual acquisitions, while the Midcore side selectively incorporates components of Plarium’s technology suite, applying them only where they add clear value. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system have already been deployed across MTG, with Redin indicating that the company is enhancing these tools with additional features. The aim is to boost studio output by providing a shared, high‑impact technology layer.
"We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck," she said, noting that Playamp studios will be super‑charged by this unified tech suite. Generative AI is another transformative force within MTG. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI to generate all of the content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is exploring broader AI‑driven content creation. Redin observed that AI is being woven into many production pipelines across the mobile sector, from A/B testing and graphics generation to quality assurance.
She stressed that AI should complement, not replace, human creativity: "Our talent’s imagination is still something AI can’t replicate, but without AI we would fall behind competitors. The technology lets us accelerate development, fill capacity gaps, and ultimately deliver better games faster." Currently, roughly 80 % of MTG’s revenue originates from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % coming from the newly formed Playsimple studio. Redin expressed a desire to broaden both sides of the business.
She cited Snowprint as a model, saying that adding several more studios with a similar profile would be “fantastic,” and hinted at the possibility of a third district that would leverage the group’s core marketing and data capabilities. When asked about the future of mobile gaming, Redin noted that the top‑ten charts have remained remarkably stable, reinforcing MTG’s long‑standing belief in evergreen intellectual properties. While the company continues to invest in proven titles like Raid, it also recognises the necessity of a fresh pipeline.
Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new game early next year. Redin warned against neglecting new development, arguing that it preserves the creative DNA of each studio and fuels ongoing innovation. The broader market context is one of maturation rather than explosive growth. With three billion gamers worldwide, the sector remains attractive, but competition now includes streaming services and social media for users’ attention.
Redin expects growth rates to settle in the low‑ to mid‑single‑digit range and believes that surpassing those figures will require a balanced strategy: nurture evergreen IPs while continuously bringing new experiences to market. This dual approach, she concluded, is the blueprint for MTG’s next phase of expansion.