In February of the previous year, Sweden's mobile entertainment leader Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That transaction was presented as a major milestone, but according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer, it is merely the opening move in a far more ambitious growth playbook. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company set a bold vision after the Plarium deal: "We want to double our size again after the acquisition, and we intend to do it within roughly three to five years." She stressed that organic expansion remains a priority, yet she added that achieving the targeted scale will require a series of further acquisitions. The timeline is aggressive, but Redin pointed out that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to meet lofty goals – the group tripled its size after a similar ambition was announced in 2021.
The mobile gaming landscape has changed dramatically in the past few years. A few years ago the sector was enjoying double‑digit growth rates, but today the market has settled into single‑digit expansion as it matures. What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped users has become a highly competitive red ocean where growth often means taking market share from rivals or absorbing them outright.
While buying companies can be straightforward, the real challenge lies in integrating those studios without disrupting their creative engines – a process that has tripped up many firms and even led to studio closures. MTG entered the Plarium deal already owning a portfolio of successful 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). Historically, these studios were split into two internal groups: the Casual District and the Midcore District, the latter covering games that sit between pure casual titles and hardcore experiences. Following the acquisition, MTG rebranded these divisions as Playsimple and Playamp.
Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, while Playamp comprises the majority of MTG’s revenue‑generating titles that rely on in‑app purchases. Redin emphasized that the restructuring goes far beyond a simple name change.
She wants to create what she calls "one of the leading gaming villages," a community‑oriented concept designed to foster a sense of belonging among employees. "People are our biggest asset," she explained, "and we need to give them an environment where they can thrive.
When we acquire a studio, we aim to keep the founders and their teams on board because the real story begins after the purchase – it’s when we scale the business together." Retaining talent, she argued, is essential for a company that is rapidly adding new studios to its roster. A key pillar of the integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across the entire MTG ecosystem. Redin has been pushing for a unified tech stack since she took the helm in 2020, but she says the scale needed to roll it out effectively only materialised after Plarium joined the group. The goal is not to force every studio to use identical systems, but to create shared foundations where they make sense.
For example, Playsimple’s tech suite will serve as the baseline for future casual acquisitions, whereas the Midcore division will adopt selected components of Plarium’s platform in a measured, case‑by‑case fashion. "We performed a thorough internal assessment to decide where collaboration on tools adds value and where it doesn’t," Redin noted. Plarium’s GoGame marketing engine and product‑data platform are already being deployed across MTG, and the company is actively enhancing them with new features. The intention is to boost the productivity of all studios, allowing Playamp teams to "supercharge" their output with a robust, shared technology suite.
Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for instance, has been using AI to generate content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is exploring broader AI‑driven content creation across its catalogue. Redin sees this as part of a wider industry trend: AI tools are being woven into every stage of game development, from A/B testing and graphics creation to quality assurance and analytics.
She believes AI can dramatically increase both speed and quality, but she also warns that it should complement, not replace, human creativity. "AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before, but it doesn’t substitute the imagination of our developers," Redin said. "If we ignore AI, we risk falling behind competitors who are already leveraging it to iterate faster. At the same time, we must preserve the creative spark that makes games enjoyable." She described AI as a way to fill capacity gaps, accelerate coding, generate art assets, and handle complex logic, thereby freeing designers to focus on the core fun factor.
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 business. She cited the recent acquisition of Snowprint as an example and hinted that MTG would love to replicate that success by finding “five more Snowprints” around the globe.
On the casual front, the company hopes to add more studios to the Playsimple umbrella, which currently consists of a single studio but still contributes a meaningful share of earnings. Looking ahead, Redin envisions a possible third district within the gaming village, though its exact focus is still being defined. She suggested that any new district would likely build on MTG’s existing strengths in marketing platforms and data analytics, further leveraging the shared infrastructure already in place. When it comes to the games themselves, Redin observes that the mobile top‑ten charts have become remarkably stable.
"Every year we run the same analysis and the same titles dominate," she remarked. This stability underpins MTG’s long‑term belief in evergreen IPs—games that continue to generate revenue for years after launch. While Raid: Shadow Legends is expected to have many more profitable years ahead, Redin stressed that MTG will not neglect new‑title development. A healthy pipeline of fresh games is essential for sustaining creative energy and preventing stagnation.
The broader industry context is sobering. Ilkka Paananen, CEO of Supercell, recently warned that Western mobile publishers are "coasting," noting that only two of the 22 mobile games surpassing $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originated in the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled; its recent project Squad Busters was discontinued after a brief launch.
Redin acknowledges the difficulty of launching hit titles but argues that abandoning new‑game investment would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios. In her view, the market remains compelling despite slower growth rates.
With roughly three billion mobile gamers worldwide, there is still ample room for expansion, even if the era of explosive hyper‑growth is over. Redin predicts low‑ to mid‑single‑digit growth as the new norm and asserts that to exceed that baseline, MTG must continue to nurture its evergreen franchises while also bringing innovative new experiences to market. In summary, MTG’s strategy under Maria Redin’s leadership combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, AI augmentation, and a balanced portfolio of proven evergreen titles and nascent projects. By fostering a collaborative "gaming village" culture and equipping all studios with shared tools and data platforms, the company aims to double its size within the next three to five years and cement its position as a dominant force in the increasingly mature mobile gaming arena.