merger increased the total number of Ninja Kiwi employees to 35. By 2021, the total number of employees had increased to 70. On March 24, 2021, Ninja Kiwi was acquired by Modern Times Group for around 1.6 billion Swedish crowns ($186 million USD), to "broaden its gaming portfolio", with expressed intent to expand into the tower defense genre whilst still maintaining the high quality standards that it strives for. The negotiations with MTG began on January 14, 2021, starting with an initial sum of between $130 to $150 million USD. Maria Redlin, MTG's group president and CEO, expressed her interest for acquiring Ninja Kiwi because of how they have created a "successful combination of paid and in-app purchase models in its pricing structure", which she argues is a major factor in Ninja Kiwi's success at creating quality games. The founders of Ninja Kiwi have responded that they are "genuinely excited to join MTG", with intent to join them on creating future business opportunities together. Ninja Kiwi had also announced their plans with MTG over the next year, including releasing Bloons TD Battles 2, the sequel to the multiplayer tower defense game Bloons TD Battles. Subsidiaries Ninja Kiwi Europe (formerly Digital Goldfish) in Dundee, Scotland, was acquired in 2012. Games Bloons Games Bloons was a major breakthrough for Ninja Kiwi. The idea came from developer Stephen Harris' wife, who suggested they make a game similar to the carnival game where people throw darts at balloons. The original Bloons was released in April 2007 under the Kaiparasoft Ltd. label and has spawned many sequels and spinoffs, including the also-successful Bloons TD, Bloons Monkey City and sub-series such as Bloons Super Monkey. Bloons Pop! is a spin-off mobile game of the main Bloons series that incorporates elements of the Bloons TD series with puzzle gameplay. Bloons TD Games Following the release of Bloons in 2007, the Bloons Tower Defense series also saw its first release in the same year with the game of the same name. Unlike the "aim and shoot" gameplay of Bloons, the Tower Defense games focused on building towers to stop balloons from reaching the exit of the track, with different towers offering different styles of attack. This game was followed by several sequels. Bloons TD Battles is a multiplayer-oriented version of Bloons TD 5 where the aim of the game is to make the player lose all their lives