In February of last year, Sweden’s mobile entertainment titan Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That transaction, however, is only the opening move in a broader expansion playbook, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin.
Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the group’s ambition, set out after the Plarium deal, is to double its overall size once more. “We laid out the vision last year that, following the Plarium acquisition, we want to double again,” she explained. “Organic growth remains a priority, but to achieve it we’ll need to pursue additional acquisitions.” The timeline she cites is aggressive: the company aims to hit the doubling target within roughly three to five years. Redin noted that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to scale quickly, having tripled its size after setting a similar goal in 2021.
The mobile gaming landscape has shifted dramatically in recent years. Where double‑digit growth once defined the sector, the market now registers single‑digit expansion, reflecting a maturing industry. What was once a blue‑ocean of untapped opportunity has turned increasingly competitive, forcing firms to either capture rivals’ market share or absorb them outright.
Acquiring studios is the easy half of the equation; integrating them smoothly is where many companies stumble. The industry is littered with cautionary tales of acquisitions that resulted in culture clashes, duplicated technology stacks, and ultimately studio closures.
MTG, however, believes it has a clear integration roadmap. Before adding Plarium, 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”: a Casual District and a Midcore District—the latter covering games that sit between purely casual and hardcore experiences. Following the Plarium acquisition, the districts were rebranded as Playsimple and Playamp. Playsimple, named after the India‑based WordTrip studio, houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp contains the bulk of MTG’s portfolio, featuring games that rely on in‑app purchases (IAPs) for revenue.
Redin says the rebranding is more than cosmetic. Her vision is to create “one of the leading gaming villages,” a phrase she chose deliberately to foster a sense of community and belonging among employees. Retaining talent and ensuring smooth cultural integration are top priorities for a company that has been on an acquisition binge.
"Gaming is the perfect marriage of creativity and data‑driven decision‑making," Redin remarked. "People are our greatest asset, but we also need to provide an environment where they can thrive. When we acquire a studio, we want the founders and their teams to stay on board, because that’s when the real story begins and we can scale the business further. The only way to make that happen is to build a workplace they love." A major part of the post‑Plarium integration effort has been the standardisation of technology and tools across the MTG ecosystem.
Redin, who took the helm in 2020, says the scale achieved after the Plarium deal finally allowed the group to roll out a unified tech vision. She acknowledges the pitfalls of forced standardisation, pointing to Electronic Arts’ fraught rollout of the Frostbite engine across its studios as a cautionary example. However, MTG is treating the two districts differently: Playsimple’s tech stack will serve as the foundation for future casual acquisitions, while Playamp will adopt select components of Plarium’s technology suite, deployed selectively after thorough internal assessments.
Plarium’s GoGame marketing platform and product‑detail‑page (PDP) data system have already been rolled out across the group, with MTG adding new features and functionality to enhance them. Redin believes these shared tools will amplify the output of all studios, allowing the company to focus resources where they generate the greatest return. Artificial intelligence is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has been using generative AI to produce content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and plans to expand AI‑generated assets across its catalogue.
Redin says AI is becoming embedded in many stages of game production, from A/B testing and graphics creation to quality assurance and analytics. "Generative AI is far more powerful than any tool we’ve had before," she noted. "We’re still figuring out the right balance—where to adjust workflows, where to keep them intact, and where AI can add the most value. Ultimately, it’s about using new technology to make our games more relevant to players and to accelerate the delivery of high‑quality titles." MTG’s approach to AI is collaborative: successful AI solutions from individual studios are incorporated into the broader Plarium‑derived tech suite, then shared across the organization.
Redin stresses the importance of allowing studios to experiment within an overarching AI framework, then disseminating best practices quickly. When asked whether AI will eventually replace human creativity, Redin was cautious.
"I don’t think AI will do everything we do," she said. "Our talent’s creativity remains irreplaceable. But if we ignore AI, we’ll fall behind competitors who are leveraging it to speed up development and improve quality.
AI should augment, not replace, the human element." 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 acquisition of Snowprint as an example and expressed interest in finding additional studios with similar profiles.
On the casual side, she noted that Playsimple is currently a single studio but still contributes a sizable share of revenue, and she envisions adding a third “district” to the gaming village in the future—likely centred around either marketing capabilities or data analytics. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin believes the top‑ten mobile games list changes little year after year, reinforcing the value of evergreen IPs.
While MTG will continue to invest in proven titles like Raid, it also recognises the necessity of a fresh pipeline. Plarium, for instance, has a new game slated for soft launch early next year. The broader industry context is challenging.
Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen has warned that Western mobile gaming is “coasting,” with only two of the 22 titles that have generated over $1 billion since 2020 originating from the West. Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, as illustrated by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin acknowledges these headwinds but argues that a balanced strategy—nurturing evergreen franchises while continually feeding the pipeline with new concepts—is essential for long‑term growth. "We’ve experienced hyper‑growth, then a period of stabilisation and modest growth," she said.
"There are three billion gamers worldwide, so the market remains compelling. Growth rates may be single‑digit now, but by investing in strong IPs and bringing fresh games to market, we can still exceed that baseline." In summary, MTG’s roadmap under Maria Redin’s leadership combines aggressive acquisition, thoughtful integration, technology standardisation, AI‑enhanced development, and a dual focus on evergreen and new titles.
The company aims to double its size within the next few years while fostering a collaborative "gaming village" that retains talent, maximises efficiency, and positions MTG to thrive in a competitive, maturing mobile gaming ecosystem.