How Steam wishlists work
2 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
A Steam wishlist is a player asking to be told about a game. Steam emails or pushes every wishlister when the game releases (and again when it leaves Early Access) and when it goes on sale at 20% or more, and you can notify them once about a demo within two weeks of its release. Wishlists feed pre-release lists such as Popular Upcoming but, per Valve, are not otherwise a factor in algorithmic visibility. Steamworks reports additions, deletions and purchases daily.
A wishlist is permission to email someone, once in a while
That is the most useful way to think about it. Each wishlist is a player who said "tell me", and Steam does the telling at the moments that sell: release, discounts, a demo. Building wishlists is building the list Steam will email for you.
What wishlists trigger
- Release: an email or push to every wishlister, and another when an Early Access game fully releases.
- Discounts of 20% or more, lasting over 8 hours and covering the cheapest package; Steam allows one such notification per app per two weeks, longer in busy sale periods.
- A demo: one notification you trigger within two weeks of the demo's release.
Only players with verified emails who have not opted out receive them.
Your wishlist report
In Steamworks' Sales & Activations portal, the app's Wishlists section shows additions, deletions and purchases, updated daily through the previous day; the regional report breaks them down by country. Store visits from wishlist emails appear under Marketing & Visibility, Traffic Breakdown.
Do wishlists help the algorithm?
Before release, yes: they decide where a game sits on upcoming lists, above all Popular Upcoming. After release, Valve says wishlists are not a factor in algorithmic visibility; what counts is whether people buy and play the game. Wishlists matter after launch because they turn into those purchases.
When to start, and the first 1,000
As soon as the store page is up; Valve says a wishlist from two years before launch converts about as well as one from two weeks before. The first 1,000 usually come from your own reach: friends, devlog viewers, a few posts in genre communities, and the first festival you join. After that, Next Fest and creators do more of the work.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay reads your followers and an estimated wishlist range, and your exact wishlists from your own Steamworks key, which never leaves your machine; free on every account. Its Steam page, trailers and posts are free in beta until 1 December 2026.
Questions
- Does Steam email wishlisters about discounts?
- Yes, for discounts of at least 20% that last over 8 hours and cover the cheapest package, at most once every two weeks per game.