In February of last year, the Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening move in a much larger strategic play, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the acquisition of Plarium was a stepping‑stone toward a bold ambition: to double MTG’s overall size once again within the next three to five years.
“We set out the vision last year that after bringing Plarium into the fold we want to double yet again in size,” she explained. “We will continue to drive organic growth, but to achieve that we need to pursue additional acquisitions.” The timeline is aggressive, but Redin points out that MTG has already demonstrated the capacity to meet lofty goals.
In 2021 the group announced a similar target and, as she notes, “we think we tripled” in the intervening period. The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit expansion, has now settled into single‑digit growth as the sector matures.
What was once a blue ocean of untapped users has become a crowded, competitive arena where gaining market share often means either out‑competing rivals or absorbing them. Acquiring studios is the easy part; the real challenge lies in integration.
The industry is littered with cautionary tales of mergers that resulted in cultural clashes, duplicated technology stacks, and ultimately studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a roadmap to avoid those pitfalls. Before the Plarium deal, the company already owned a portfolio of mobile developers, 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 originally grouped into two “districts”: a Casual District and a Midcore District, the latter covering games that sit between casual and hardcore experiences.
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 titles. Playamp houses the majority of MTG’s portfolio, focusing on games that generate revenue through in‑app purchases (IAPs).
The rebranding is more than cosmetic; it reflects a broader cultural shift aimed at building what Redin calls “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term is deliberately inviting, designed to foster a sense of community and belonging among the many teams now under the MTG umbrella. Retaining talent and ensuring smooth integration are top priorities, especially given the rapid pace of recent acquisitions. Redin emphasizes that gaming sits at the intersection of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making. “People are one of our biggest assets,” she says, “but we also need to create an environment where they can thrive.” To that end, MTG plans to keep founders and core teams on board after a purchase, believing that the most exciting growth phase begins once the original creators remain involved.
She adds that the only way to secure that continuity is to build a workplace that teams enjoy. A key element of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Since Redin took the helm in 2020, she has championed a unified tech vision, but she notes that the scale required to roll it out fully only arrived with Plarium’s addition. “Not everything needs to be built uniquely for every single company,” she explains. The company is now deploying a common tech stack where it makes sense, while allowing flexibility where divergent needs exist.
For instance, the Playsimple division uses a technology foundation that will serve future casual acquisitions, whereas the Midcore (Playamp) side has selectively adopted components of Plarium’s tech suite. Redin acknowledges past industry missteps with tech standardisation, citing Electronic Arts’ forced adoption of the Frostbite engine as a cautionary example that caused friction for teams working on titles like Mass Effect.
MTG’s approach, by contrast, involves a thorough internal assessment to determine where shared tools add value and where they could hinder progress. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page data system have already been rolled out across the group, with MTG adding new features to enhance functionality. The goal is to maximise return on investment by equipping studios with a robust, shared infrastructure while preserving the unique strengths of each developer. Artificial intelligence is another pillar of MTG’s growth plan.
Generative AI is already reshaping content creation across the mobile sector. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI to generate all of the assets for its Sunrise Village title and is exploring broader applications. Redin says the industry is collectively grappling with how to embed AI into production pipelines without compromising creative vision.
“Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before,” she notes, adding that the challenge is to strike the right balance between automation and human creativity. MTG’s AI strategy focuses on augmenting existing workflows—such as A/B testing, graphic generation, quality assurance, and analytics—rather than replacing designers outright. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the Plarium tech suite and disseminated throughout the organisation.
Redin stresses the importance of allowing each studio to experiment within an overarching AI framework that defines best practices and boundaries. When a studio discovers a breakthrough, the company can quickly propagate that innovation across the entire portfolio.
When asked whether AI has become a prerequisite for competing in the fast‑moving mobile market, Redin offers a nuanced view. She does not believe AI will ever fully replace human ingenuity, but she warns that ignoring it would leave MTG lagging behind rivals. “If we don’t embrace AI, we will be slower than our competitors,” she says.
By pairing AI‑driven efficiency with the creative talent of its teams, MTG aims to accelerate development cycles and improve game quality. Financially, about 80 % of MTG’s revenue now stems from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. Redin is eager to expand both sides of the business. She cites Snowprint as a recent acquisition and expresses interest in finding “five more Snowprints around the world.” On the casual side, although Playsimple currently consists of a single studio, she envisions adding more scale and even exploring a third district that could leverage the group’s marketing and data capabilities.
Despite the market’s maturation, Redin believes there is still room for growth. She points out that the top‑ten mobile games list changes little year after year, underscoring the value of evergreen IPs—titles that maintain relevance over long periods.
While Raid: Shadow Legends is expected to generate revenue for many more years, MTG continues to invest in new projects to keep the pipeline fresh. Redin acknowledges the difficulty of launching successful new games, noting industry examples such as Supercell’s recent struggles with new titles despite heavy investment in incubation programs. Nevertheless, she argues that a pipeline of fresh games is essential to preserve the creative DNA of each studio.
“If we stop investing in new games, we lose part of what makes each studio unique,” she says. The broader market context is a maturing ecosystem with growth rates hovering in the low to mid single‑digit range. To exceed that baseline, MTG must double down on its strong evergreen franchises while also delivering new experiences that capture player attention. In summary, Maria Redin’s roadmap for MTG blends aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, and AI‑enhanced workflows with a clear cultural focus on retaining talent and fostering a collaborative "gaming village." By balancing the proven profitability of established titles with the necessity of nurturing new IPs, MTG aims to double its size within the next few years and cement its position as a leading force in the evolving mobile gaming landscape.