When Steam emails your wishlisters
2 min read
By Eduardo Orellana ·
Steam emails or pushes your wishlisters at four moments: when the game releases; when an Early Access game fully releases; when it is discounted by at least 20% for more than 8 hours on its cheapest package; and once, triggered by you, within two weeks of a demo's release. Discount notices are limited to one every two weeks per game (longer around seasonal sales), and go only to players with verified emails who have not opted out.
Four emails you do not have to write
Steam's wishlist emails are the most valuable marketing most indie games get, and they cost nothing. Each one reaches everyone who said they wanted to hear. Planning launches and sales around them is how wishlists turn into sales.
The four triggers
- Release: Early Access or full.
- Full release after Early Access: a second email.
- A discount of at least 20%, lasting over 8 hours, covering at least the lowest-priced package; featured deals, weeklong deals and custom discounts all count.
- A demo: one notification you trigger from the demo's landing page within two weeks of its release.
The limits
- One discount notification every two weeks per game, extended around busy periods such as seasonal sales.
- Only players with verified emails who have not opted out.
- Discount emails usually go within a few hours; any held up more than a week are dropped.
- Visits from these emails show in Steamworks' Traffic Breakdown.
Planning around them
Make your first discount at least 20% so it triggers an email, after the 30-day post-release window. Release the demo when you can send its email to a meaningful list. Space sales so each one's email lands.
Where Flockbay fits
Flockbay reads your wishlists from your own Steamworks key, free, and drafts the launch, demo and sale posts that go out with each email. Free in beta until 1 December 2026.