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Plarium Agreed to Buy Finland’s Futureplay to Expand Its Casual Games Portfolio

Plarium’s 2021 agreement to acquire Helsinki-based Futureplay aimed to strengthen its casual-game portfolio. The price was undisclosed; Futureplay joined MTG in 2025 through its acquisition of Plarium.
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Plarium announced an agreement on August 2, 2021, to acquire Helsinki-based mobile-game studio Futureplay, aiming to broaden its portfolio and build its presence in casual games. The deal’s price was not disclosed. Futureplay later joined MTG in 2025 as part of MTG’s acquisition of Plarium, so the 2021 announcement describes a past transaction—not Futureplay’s current ownership.

What Plarium announced

Plarium’s release, dated August 2, 2021, said it had entered an agreement to acquire Futureplay. The company page was published on August 8. The release expected the deal to close by the end of August, subject to closing conditions; it did not establish the precise closing date. Plarium’s announcement

Futureplay was a Helsinki-based mobile-game studio whose titles included Merge Gardens, Battlelands Royale and Idle Farming Empire. Plarium described the acquisition as a way to diversify its studio portfolio and expand its casual-game pipeline.

Why Plarium wanted Futureplay

Plarium’s stated plan was to combine its development infrastructure and marketing capabilities with Futureplay’s team and games. The companies said they would work side by side, share expertise and resources, develop Futureplay’s catalog and introduce new casual titles. Futureplay CEO and co-founder Jami Laes also said the collaboration could help improve existing games while supporting a creative development environment.

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These were the companies’ expectations for the partnership, not evidence that the anticipated benefits were achieved. Plarium CEO Aviram Steinhart called the acquisition “a strong addition to our portfolio of world-leading studios.” Laes said Futureplay was eager to learn from Plarium’s mobile-game expertise. Both statements appeared in Plarium’s announcement.

Futureplay’s scale and games at the time

Plarium’s 2021 announcement said Futureplay had released six games that had been played by more than 140 million users, and that its social-media and community channels had 2.1 million followers. Those figures are company-reported numbers from 2021, not current audience measures.

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There is a later difference in the reported player totals: Futureplay’s current games page says its six games have reached more than 120 million players. The available company pages do not explain the discrepancy, so the figures should be treated as separate claims with different dates and wording rather than combined. Futureplay describes Merge Gardens as a match-3 and merge mobile game launched in fall 2020. Futureplay’s games page

Current company profiles also describe the Helsinki operation differently in staffing terms. Plarium’s studio page says the team works globally with more than 60 professionals; MTG’s profile gives an approximate figure of 70 employees. These are profile snapshots, not a basis for a single precise current headcount. Plarium’s Futureplay studio profile · MTG’s Futureplay profile

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Price and ownership timeline

  • August 2, 2021: Plarium announced its agreement to acquire Futureplay.
  • Expected closing: Plarium said it expected the transaction to close by the end of August 2021, subject to closing conditions.
  • Price: The announcement did not disclose it, and GamesBeat likewise reported that the companies had not disclosed the price. GamesBeat’s report
  • 2025: Futureplay joined MTG as part of MTG’s acquisition of Plarium, according to MTG’s company profile. MTG’s Futureplay profile
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What the acquisition meant—and what it did not establish

The deal paired Plarium’s midcore-game heritage and stated marketing and development capabilities with a studio focused on casual mobile games. It was a portfolio and strategic-expansion move, as presented by the companies. The public statements cited here do not establish the deal’s financial terms or demonstrate the results of the planned collaboration.

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