Teut Weidmann’s Blueprint: Designing a Game Economy That Never Stops Providing Value!

In the mobile gaming industry, everyone wants to crack the code of the next “hit.” But according to Teut Weidmann, the problem is that most developers are looking at the wrong data. They are chasing charts, cloning mechanics, and pouring money into a “vicious cycle” of User Acquisition (UA) that often masks a broken game economy.

As a consultant, Teut is frequently brought in to perform “KPI surgery” on games that are flatlining. We sat down with him to discuss his rigorous diagnostic process including the famous “Whale Test”, and his philosophy on why monetization must be a service, not a barrier. He has dissected everything from World of Tanks to League of Legends, Teut’s approach is surgical: monetization isn’t about “squeezing” users; it’s about designing an economic system that respects the player’s time, psychology, and wallet.

1. The Core Philosophy: Money Equals Time

The first step in Teut’s monetization playbook is understanding who is actually paying. While the industry often focuses on Gen Z, the data tells a different story: the average age of a mobile game player is 35 years old.

“If you have a game that older players like, they try to save time by spending money… Money equals time.”

For this demographic, monetization is a value exchange. They don’t want to grind for a week to unlock a superhero; they would rather pay to get two heroes per week while playing at their own pace. If your game doesn’t offer this “time-saving” utility, you aren’t just losing revenue, you’re losing your most valuable audience.

2. The Four Diagnostic Tests of a Healthy Game Economy

Before Teut even looks at a game’s code, he puts the monetization design through four specific “stress tests.”

Test 1: The Excel/Bartle Matrix

Teut maps every single item or service sold for premium currency against specific player types (Achievers, Explorers, etc.).

• The Goal: To ensure there is no “blind spot” in your store.
• The Insight: “If I don’t offer anything for you, because you’re a specific player type, you won’t spend money.”

Test 2: The Lifecycle Check (Early, Mid, End Game)

Many games offer a great “Starter Pack” but run out of steam in the mid-game because players already have everything they need. Teut analyzes the spending opportunities at every stage of the user journey to prevent revenue plateaus.

Test 3: The Wallet Size Test

A healthy game economy must cater to all spendable income levels, from the €5 occasional spender to the €200-a-month enthusiast.

• The Rule: High-priced items must represent genuine value. Payers are highly intelligent and “don’t buy crap.”

Test 4: The Whale Test

This is Teut’s most aggressive diagnostic. He asks developers to give him unlimited in-game coins and tries to spend it all.

• The Problem: Many games have an accidental “spending cap.”
• The Insight: There are players (from regions like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, or sons of billionaires) for whom money is not the primary problem. “They would love to spend, but if you won’t let them, they won’t.”

3. The “Triangle of Happiness” 

Teut doesn’t believe in “throwing ads at the wall.” He argues that ads only work when they create a “Triangle of Happiness”:

1. The Developer gets revenue from the view.
2. The Advertiser gets a qualified view.
3. The User gets a proper reward or a natural break in the experience.

Strategic Placement

Teut advocates for placements that add to the game world. In a racing game, for example, placing an interstitial ad during the countdown at the start line feels natural because it mirrors the advertising rhythm of real-world sports broadcasts. Furthermore, he notes a technical synergy: “If you have a stable, good in-app purchase system, you will get paid better for your ads.”

4. The Human Factor: Beyond AI and Dashboards

While the industry is currently buzzing with AI-driven optimization, Teut remains grounded. He points out that while AI is a useful commodity, it cannot replace the “Why.”

“The data tells you what happens, but it never tells you why… You ask your game designers why they think it happens. You ask the monetization guys… and make a consensus.”

True monetization strategy requires human designers to interpret the emotional friction in a game. If you rely solely on algorithms, you might miss the fact that a game’s art style is too dark for daylight mobile play, a human observation that data alone might take months to catch.

5. Reach vs. Revenue: Choosing Your Battlefield

Another mistake developers make is failing to understand the fundamental trade-off between In-App Advertising (IAA) and In-App Purchases (IAP).

• The Reach Game (Ads): Hyper-casual and hybrid-casual game economy requires millions of downloads because the revenue per player is low. You are essentially a “volume business.”
• The Revenue Game (IAP): Mid-core and core games (like fantasy RPGs) have lower reach but high revenue per user. “Fantasy players want to be in that world; they don’t want to be interrupted by a toothpaste ad,” Teut notes. In fact, 60% of all App Store revenue is generated by these core games through deep, IAP-driven economies.

Final Advice: Build a Game, Not a UA Machine

Teut’s final warning to the industry is about the “vicious cycle” of UA. If your game dies the moment you turn off the marketing tap, you haven’t built a game; you’ve built a user acquisition company.

“We want to make good games that are carried by themselves and use user acquisition to scale and not to carry the game.”

By focusing on deep economic design using the 4 diagnostic tests developers can build sustainable “blue ocean” titles that thrive for 20 years, rather than 20 weeks.

Teut Weidmann continues to consult for top-tier studios, helping them transform “good games” into “profitable ecosystems.”