MTG Acquires Israeli Gaming Giant Plarium for $820M: Major Gaming Industry Acquisition

Israeli gaming company Plarium has been acquired by Swedish digital entertainment company Modern Times Group (MTG) in a deal worth up to $820 million. Plarium’s current owner, Australian gaming giant Aristocrat, will receive an initial payment of $620 million, with an additional $200 million potential performance-based payment through 2028.

Plarium is a prominent Israeli video game developer and publisher, renowned for creating engaging mobile, desktop, and browser-based games across various genres, including MMORPG, RPG, action, strategy, and casual. Known for its high-quality games and strong community engagement, Plarium has consistently delivered successful titles that captivate players globally.

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Plarium was founded in 2009 in Israel and was acquired by Aristocrat in 2017. The studio currently has approximately 1,300 employees and is headquartered in Israel, with teams in Poland, Ukraine, Finland and the rest of the world. The studio is led by CEO Schraga Mor together with a senior management team of 12 members.

The studio’s most successful title is the genre-leading RAID: Shadow Legends. The game was launched in 2019 and is the highest grossing turn-based role-playing game on the Google and Apple app stores.

MTG’s acquisition of Plarium is a strategic move that significantly boosts the company’s scale and accelerates its growth plans. By combining Plarium’s highly profitable mid-core games with MTG’s successful casual games portfolio, including the popular Merge Gardens, the combined group becomes a leading global player in the gaming industry. This acquisition strengthens MTG’s position with a diverse portfolio of globally recognized and enduring game titles.

Plarium generated revenues of $613 million for the 12-month period ending 30 September 2024 (using MTG’s definition), representing a 1.2% year over year growth. Flagship title RAID: Shadow Legends grew by 2.3% year over year for the same period.

“I am proud and excited to welcome Plarium to MTG in this transformative deal, which elevates MTG into a leading European gaming group. In Plarium, we have found a great partner to evolve and accelerate together,” said MTG Group’s President and CEO Maria Redin. They bring an exciting and highly successful portfolio of live games spearheaded by RAID: Shadow Legends, an exceptional evergreen mid-core IP, to our line-up. The studio also has three additional strong live games, and an exciting new games pipeline in both the mid-core and the casual segments, which creates healthy optionality for future growth.”

“Plarium also has best-in-class tools for user acquisition and monetization. These tools will complement our own Flow Platform and boost the performance of some of our existing live titles. Plarium is led by a strong, experienced and dedicated team that fits very well into our entrepreneurial and driven culture and I look forward to welcoming them to the group.”