In February of last year, the Swedish entertainment conglomerate Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the developer behind the blockbuster hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That transaction, while already sizable, appears only to be the opening move in a broader expansion agenda, according to MTG’s president and chief executive, Maria Redin. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set shortly after the Plarium deal, is to double its 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 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 she outlined is aggressive: the target is to achieve this doubling within roughly three to five years. Redin noted that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to meet lofty goals, pointing to a 2021 ambition that resulted in the firm tripling its scale.
The mobile gaming sector, once characterized by double‑digit growth rates, has now settled into single‑digit expansion as the market matures. What was once a blue ocean of untapped users has turned increasingly red, meaning that future growth will likely come from taking market share from rivals or, more directly, by acquiring them outright. While buying studios is the easier half of the equation, integrating those entities into a cohesive whole is notoriously difficult.
The industry is littered with cautionary tales of acquisitions that led to cultural clashes, duplicated effort, and ultimately studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a roadmap to avoid those pitfalls.
Before the Plarium purchase, MTG already owned a portfolio of mobile developers, 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 originally split into two operational clusters: the Casual District and the Midcore District—the latter housing games that sit between purely casual experiences and more demanding hardcore titles. Following the acquisition, MTG rebranded these clusters as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the Indian studio behind WordTrip, aggregates free‑to‑play, ad‑supported games, while Playamp focuses on titles that generate revenue primarily through in‑app purchases, which now represent the bulk of MTG’s earnings.
The rebranding is more than a cosmetic change. Redin explained that the company aims to build "one of the leading gaming villages," a phrase chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging for employees. Retaining talent and ensuring smooth integration are top priorities, especially given the rapid pace of recent acquisitions. "I always say gaming is the best marriage between creativity and data‑driven decisions.
People are one of our biggest assets, but you also need to create an environment for them to thrive," Redin said. She emphasized that MTG intends to keep founders and development teams on board after a purchase, arguing that the real growth story begins once those teams are empowered to scale their businesses within the larger MTG ecosystem. A key component of the integration plan is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group. Redin noted that not every studio needs a bespoke tech stack; instead, MTG is rolling out shared platforms wherever it makes sense.
This effort, she said, began when she assumed the CEO role in 2020 but only reached a scale sufficient for full deployment after Plarium joined the fold. The company is careful to distinguish between the needs of Playsimple and Playamp. "Playsimple and their tech stack is going to be the foundation for future companies we onboard in the Casual District," she explained, while for the Midcore segment MTG has adopted select elements of Plarium’s technology suite, applying them selectively after a thorough internal assessment of where collaboration would add value. Two of Plarium’s platforms—GoGame, a marketing automation suite, and a product‑detail‑page (PDP) data platform—are already being used across MTG’s studios, with additional features and functionality being added to enhance their utility.
Redin believes these shared tools will raise the overall output of the group’s developers: "We want to make sure that we put our efforts where we get the biggest bang for our buck. We have some amazing game makers across the group, and what we want to do now with Playamp is to really supercharge that with a tech suite they can leverage." Artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI, is another area where MTG is investing heavily. InnoGames, for example, has been using AI to generate all 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: "Generative AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we have had before. We are all trying to find the right balance—how do we change our workflow, where do we keep it the same, and where can AI add the most value?" The company’s AI strategy focuses on layering intelligent capabilities onto existing pipelines—enhancing A/B testing, automating graphic production, streamlining quality assurance, and more. Successful AI solutions from individual studios are being incorporated into the Plarium tech suite and then disseminated throughout MTG.
Redin stressed the importance of allowing each studio to experiment within a common AI framework, sharing learnings quickly so that breakthroughs can be rolled out at scale. When asked whether AI has become a prerequisite for competing in the fast‑moving mobile market, Redin cautioned against over‑hyping the technology.
"I often get the question, is gaming AI going to be able to do everything you do? And I actually don't think so," she said. She believes human creativity remains irreplaceable, but also warned that ignoring AI could leave MTG lagging behind rivals: "If we don't embrace AI, we are going to be slower than our competitors.
AI can super‑charge everything we do while we keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team." Revenue-wise, about 80 % of MTG’s income now stems from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. Redin is eager to broaden both sides of the portfolio. She cited Snowprint as a model: "We bought Snowprint a couple of years back, and if we could find five more Snowprints around the world, that would be fantastic." On the casual side, she noted that Playsimple is currently a single studio but still contributes a substantial share of revenue.
The long‑term vision includes the possibility of adding a third district to the gaming village, leveraging either the marketing platforms or data capabilities that MTG has built. Despite the rapid evolution of the market, the top‑ten mobile games list remains relatively static, underscoring the durability of evergreen IPs. Redin reiterated MTG’s belief in the longevity of titles like Raid: Shadow Legends, while also acknowledging the necessity of a fresh pipeline: "We believe in evergreen IPs, but we also need to keep a pipeline of new games coming to market." The challenge of launching successful new titles is evident across the industry. Supercell’s Ilkka Paananen has warned that the western mobile sector is "coasting," with only two of the 22 games that have surpassed $1 billion in revenue since 2020 originating from the West.
Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have faced setbacks, such as the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin agrees that creating hit games is difficult, but she stresses that abandoning new‑game development would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios. "Investing in new games retains creativity, passion, and drive," she said, noting that Plarium has a new title slated for a soft launch early next year. Looking ahead, Redin remains optimistic about the market’s potential despite its maturation.
With roughly three billion gamers worldwide, she believes the sector is still compelling, even as it competes for user attention with streaming services and social media. Growth rates may have settled into low‑ to mid‑single‑digit territory, but MTG aims to outperform that baseline by continuing to nurture its evergreen franchises and by bringing fresh experiences to players.
"If you want to grow above and beyond the baseline, you need to continue to invest in your strong evergreen IPs, but you also need to be able to bring new games to the market," she concluded.