Modern Times Group (or MTG for short), the Swedish entertainment company largely focused on digital content, has been keeping a close eye on the gaming industry recently. In 2015, they acquired stake in Turtle Entertainment and Electronic Sports League (or ESL for short) as well as the eSports team DreamHack. Now, MTG seems to be turning its gaze into a new direction: free-to-play publishing. In particular, MTG just acquired 35 per cent of InnoGames.

InnoGames, which is based in Hamburg, is successful in the mobile and browser free-to-play fields. Tribal Wars, Forge of Empires and other mobile games have proven major titles for the publisher, leading to a strong showing on the mobile gaming market. According to InnoGames’ press release, the publisher “has generated compound annual revenue growth of more than 20 per cent over the last 3 years.” The company notes that over “150 million registered players” are using their titles, with “over 50 per cent of new player registrations” coming from mobile players alone. Certainly, InnoGames is quite the investment, with a strong hold on the market and a knack for publishing interesting free-to-play games.

The acquisition is a smart long-term move for becoming a mainstay in the mobile market, too. It hearkens back to Ubisoft’s acquirement of Ketchapp, officially beginning the French publisher’s entrance into the mobile market. Now is the best time to get involved in the burgeoning mobile and eSports markets, too. From competitive academic eSports teams to international mobile game development partnerships, both endeavors are some of the most popular and lucrative options in gaming today. With mobile gaming on the rise, too, it seems MTG’s stake will only prove beneficial in the years to come. Especially as the latest round of smartphones are released for holiday 2017, essentially assuring a brand new market of players and devices are ready to join the mobile market.