Shadow Legends dev Plarium acquired by Modern Times Group

Modern Times Group (MTG) has bought Raid: Shadow Legends creator Plarium for a meaty $620 million.

That purchase, according to MTG’s announcement, equates to almost an entire year of revenue for Plarium. Between September 2023 to September 2024, the Israeli studio generated $613 million in revenue, up 1.2 percent from the 2022-2023 fiscal year. In that same 12-month period, Raid grew by 2.3 percent from the preious year.

Plarium was first picked up by Australian casino company Aristocrat in 2017, a year prior to Raid’s launch. Like MTG, Aristocraft bought the studio for a hefty sum (back then, $500 million); in the years since, Raid has become one of the biggest (and most-aggressively marketed) mobile games, and Plarium has released fellow phone titles Undersea: Solitaire Tripleaks and Mech Arena: Robot Showdown.

Prior to this acquisition, Aristocrat sold off Rumble Games—then a subsidiary of Plarium—to blockchain company Forte Labs in 2023. Rumble was closed down this past July.

For MTG, the acquisition offers “multiple avenues to deliver synergies” and a way to “substantially improve” its cash flow generation. It also expressed interest in Plarium’s technology and expertise in live-ops, marketing, and monetization “to drive commercial synergies and further improve the group’s performance over the long term.”

“The acquisition of Plarium enables us to significantly accelerate our ambition to build a strong ecosystem that can support gaming companies,” said games EVP Arnd Benninghoff. “We are delighted to welcome Plarium into our Gaming Village, where their world-leading evergreen games can continue to shine.”

Plarium, for its part, has not yet commented on its new boss, or how it will affect development for Raid or any of its other games.