In February of last year, the Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening move in what MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin, describes as an aggressive expansion agenda. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s vision, set out after the Plarium acquisition, is to double its overall size 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 this ambition is tight: Redin aims to achieve the doubling within a three‑to‑five‑year window. She noted that MTG has already proven capable of rapid scaling, pointing to a 2021 ambition that resulted in the company roughly tripling its footprint.
The mobile gaming market, once a blue‑ocean of double‑digit growth, has now settled into single‑digit expansion as the sector matures. In this more competitive environment, growth often means capturing market share from rivals or, more dramatically, absorbing them outright. While buying companies can be straightforward, integrating them into an existing corporate structure is notoriously challenging, with many industry stories of failed mergers leading to studio closures. MTG believes it has a clear roadmap to avoid those pitfalls.
Before adding Plarium, MTG already owned a suite 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 originally split into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between purely casual and hardcore experiences. The recent rebranding has renamed these divisions Playsimple and Playamp.
Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the bulk of MTG’s portfolio, which relies on in‑app purchases. Redin says the rebranding is more than cosmetic; it is intended to forge “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of community that employees want to belong to. Retaining talent and ensuring smooth integration are top priorities for a company that has been on an acquisition binge.
“Gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions,” Redin explained. “People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment for them to thrive.
We buy companies because we want the founders and teams to stay on board after the deal— that’s when the real story begins and we can scale the businesses. The only way to make sure they stay is to build a workplace they enjoy.” A key part of the integration effort has been the standardisation of technology and tools across MTG’s portfolio.
Redin, who became CEO in 2020, has long advocated for a unified tech stack, but the scale required to roll it out only materialised after Plarium joined the group. “Not everything needs to be built uniquely for every single company,” she noted, adding that the standardisation drive has finally reached a size where it can be executed fully.
The industry has seen the downside of forced standardisation before—Electronic Arts’ push to adopt its proprietary Frostbite engine caused significant headaches for studios working on titles such as Mass Effect. Redin is mindful of those lessons and has taken a differentiated approach: the Playsimple division will use a tech foundation tailored to casual games, while the Playamp division will adopt selected components of Plarium’s technology suite on a case‑by‑case basis. “We’ve done a very thorough internal assessment on where it makes sense to collaborate and share tools, and where it doesn’t,” she said. Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system are already being deployed across MTG, with additional features being added to enhance functionality.
The goal is to boost studio productivity and ensure that investment is directed where it yields the greatest return. “We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck,” Redin affirmed. “We have some amazing game makers across the group, and with Playamp we want to super‑charge them with a tech suite they can leverage, elevating everything that’s already been done.” Generative AI is another pillar of MTG’s modernization strategy. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑driven creation across its portfolio.
Redin observes that AI integration is becoming a common thread throughout the mobile sector, with studios experimenting on how best to embed AI into production pipelines. “We’re all having similar discussions on how we embrace new technology in our production chain,” she said. “Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before.
The challenge is finding the right balance—where to change the workflow, where to keep it, and where AI can add the most value.” MTG’s AI strategy focuses on layering intelligent tools onto existing processes such as A/B testing, graphics generation, quality assurance and analytics. Successful AI solutions developed in individual studios are being packaged into the Plarium tech suite for broader rollout. Redin emphasised the importance of allowing each studio to experiment within a shared AI framework, then disseminating successful innovations quickly across the group. When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creativity, Redin was cautious.
“I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do? I don’t think so. Our talent’s creativity is still something AI can’t replicate,” she said. “But if we don’t embrace AI, we’ll fall behind competitors.
AI can super‑charge everything we do while we keep the creativity, innovation and vision of our team.” According to Redin, roughly 80 % of MTG’s revenue now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. She is eager 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,” she remarked.
On the casual side, she noted that Playsimple is currently a single studio but still contributes a solid fifth of total revenue. Redin hinted at the possibility of adding a third “district” to the gaming village in the future, though the exact focus is still under discussion. It would likely build on existing core capabilities, such as leveraging the group’s marketing platforms or data infrastructure. Despite the rapid evolution of the market, the composition of the mobile top‑ten remains remarkably stable.
“Every year we do the same analysis, and the top games remain very consistent,” Redin observed. MTG’s long‑term thesis has always centred on evergreen IPs—games that can generate revenue for years. While Raid: Shadow Legends is expected to have many more profitable years ahead, Redin stressed that investing in new titles remains essential to keep a healthy pipeline.
The challenge of launching fresh hits is underscored by industry commentary. Ilkka Paananen of Supercell warned that the Western mobile market is “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 faced setbacks, such as the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin acknowledges the difficulty: “It’s hard to make a successful game and scale a game,” she said, noting that Plarium has a new title slated for a soft launch early next year.
She believes that without new releases, studios risk losing the creative DNA that fuels innovation. Looking at the macro picture, Redin sees a still‑large, albeit maturing, market. “We have three billion gamers out there, so is it a compelling market?
Yes. Do we compete for airtime with streaming platforms, social media, and so forth? Yes.
But I believe there’s still growth in the gaming market.” She cautions, however, that the era of hyper‑growth is likely over. “We’re seeing low‑single‑digit to mid‑single‑digit growth depending on the data source. If you want to grow beyond that, you need to keep investing in strong evergreen IPs and also bring new games to market.”