In February of last year, the Swedish mobile powerhouse Modern Times Group (MTG) completed a $620 million purchase of Plarium, the studio behind the wildly popular hero‑collection title Raid: Shadow Legends. That deal, however, is only the opening move in a broader expansion plan, according to Maria Redin, MTG’s president and chief executive officer. Redin told GamesIndustry.biz that the company’s ambition, set 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 explained. “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 doubling is aggressive: Redin aims to achieve it within roughly three to five years. She noted that MTG has already demonstrated the ability to scale quickly, recalling that the firm pursued a similar target in 2021 and ended up tripling its footprint. The mobile gaming market, once characterized by double‑digit growth, has now settled into a single‑digit expansion phase as the sector matures.
What was once a blue ocean of untapped opportunity has turned into a crowded red sea, where growth increasingly depends on capturing market share from rivals or, more dramatically, absorbing them through acquisition. Buying companies is the easy part; integrating them smoothly is where many firms stumble.
The industry is littered with cautionary tales of poorly managed mergers that led to studio closures. MTG, however, believes it has a clear roadmap for integration.
Before the Plarium deal, MTG already owned a portfolio 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 grouped into two “districts”: the Casual District and the Midcore District, the latter covering games that sit between pure casual and hardcore experiences. The recent rebranding renamed these districts as Playsimple and Playamp, respectively. Playsimple, named after the India‑based studio behind WordTrip, now houses free‑to‑play, ad‑supported titles, while Playamp aggregates the in‑app‑purchase‑driven games that constitute the bulk of MTG’s revenue.
The restructuring goes beyond a cosmetic name change. Redin says the goal is to forge “one of the leading gaming villages.” The term “village” is deliberately chosen to evoke a sense of community and belonging, which she believes is essential for retaining talent after a wave of acquisitions. “People are one of our biggest assets,” Redin emphasized, “but you also need to create an environment where they can thrive. We buy companies because we want the founders and teams to stay on board post‑acquisition; that’s when the real story begins and you can scale the businesses further.” A key pillar of the integration strategy is the standardisation of technology and tools across the group.
Since Redin took the helm in 2020, MTG has pursued a unified tech stack, but 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 noted, adding that the Plarium acquisition gave MTG the critical mass to implement the vision. Redin is mindful of past missteps in the industry, such as Electronic Arts’ forced adoption of the Frostbite engine, which caused significant friction for studios working on titles like Mass Effect. To avoid similar pitfalls, MTG treats the tech needs of Playsimple and Playamp as distinct.
The casual division will use a foundational tech stack designed for ad‑driven games, while the midcore division will selectively adopt components of Plarium’s suite, ensuring that each studio receives tools that actually improve its workflow. 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. Redin explained that the aim is to concentrate effort where it yields the greatest return: “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 was already done.” Generative AI is another transformative force within MTG.
InnoGames, for example, has been using AI‑generated content for its mobile title Sunrise Village and is exploring broader AI integration across its portfolio. Redin observes that AI is becoming embedded in many stages of game production, from A/B testing and graphics creation to quality assurance and analytics. “AI is significantly more powerful than any other tool we’ve had before,” she said, adding that the challenge lies in finding the right balance between automation and human creativity.
The company’s AI strategy focuses on layering intelligent tools onto existing pipelines rather than replacing them. Successful AI solutions developed in individual studios are being incorporated into the Plarium tech suite and rolled out group‑wide. Redin stressed the importance of allowing studios the freedom to experiment within an overarching AI framework, then sharing learnings quickly so that breakthroughs can benefit the entire organisation. When asked whether AI will eventually make human designers obsolete, Redin was cautious.
She believes that while AI can accelerate production and fill capacity gaps, the core of game development—creative vision and innovative thinking—remains a distinctly human domain. “If we don’t embrace AI, we will fall behind our competitors,” she warned, “but we must keep the creativity, innovation, and vision of our team.” Revenue-wise, about 80 % of MTG’s income now comes from the Playamp division, with the remaining 20 % generated by Playsimple. Redin is eager to expand both sides.
She cited the recent acquisition of Snowprint and expressed interest in adding “five more Snowprints around the world.” On the casual front, she noted that Playsimple is currently a single studio but still contributes a substantial share of revenue, and she envisions a potential third district that would leverage the group’s marketing platforms and data capabilities. Despite the market’s maturity, Redin remains confident about growth prospects. The top‑ten mobile games list changes little year over year, reinforcing her belief in evergreen IPs. Yet she acknowledges the need for a steady pipeline of new titles to keep the portfolio fresh.
Plarium, for instance, is preparing to soft‑launch a new game early next year. The broader industry context is sobering. Supercell’s CEO Ilkka Paananen has warned that the Western mobile market is “coasting,” with only two of the 22 billion‑dollar titles since 2020 originating in the West.
Even Supercell’s own incubation efforts have struggled, as illustrated by the recent shutdown of Squad Busters. Redin admits that creating and scaling a hit game is difficult, but she argues that neglecting new development would erode the creative DNA of MTG’s studios. “Investing in new games is essential to retain creativity, passion, and drive,” she said.
Looking ahead, Redin sees a market that, while no longer capable of the hyper‑growth of earlier years, still offers solid single‑digit expansion. With roughly three billion gamers worldwide, the opportunity remains compelling. She believes that continued investment in strong evergreen franchises, combined with a disciplined rollout of fresh titles, will be the formula for sustainable growth in a maturing mobile gaming landscape.