Market (Overall)·Updated Mar 17, 2026 by Sensor Tower
Crossing the 100,000 wishlist threshold is the primary indicator of success, as these titles have a 71% probability of strong first-month sales compared to only 17% for those with fewer than 100,000.
Wishlist accumulation is highly top-heavy, with only 9% of games reaching the 100,000-wishlist milestone and over 90% of all titles failing to exceed 10,000.
85% of total pre-launch wishlists are collected at least four months before a game's release, emphasizing that audience commitment must be secured well in advance of launch.
Publishing a Steam page at least six months prior to launch increases wishlist growth by an average of 30% compared to pages created closer to the release date.
Major content drops, such as trailers, consistently drive significant engagement, with each release triggering a 10–15% spike in wishlist counts.
Action/Adventure and RPG/Strategy titles achieve the highest median wishlist counts (180,000–190,000), while Casual and MMO titles typically lag with medians between 70,000 and 80,000.
Titles with 10,000 or fewer wishlists face a 50% risk of underperforming, necessitating early contingency strategies like extended betas or community events.
Crossing the 100,000 wishlist threshold is the primary indicator of success, as these titles have a 71% probability of strong first-month sales compared to only 17% for those with fewer than 100,000.
Wishlist accumulation is highly top-heavy, with only 9% of games reaching the 100,000-wishlist milestone and over 90% of all titles failing to exceed 10,000.
85% of total pre-launch wishlists are collected at least four months before a game's release, emphasizing that audience commitment must be secured well in advance of launch.
Publishing a Steam page at least six months prior to launch increases wishlist growth by an average of 30% compared to pages created closer to the release date.
Major content drops, such as trailers, consistently drive significant engagement, with each release triggering a 10–15% spike in wishlist counts.
Action/Adventure and RPG/Strategy titles achieve the highest median wishlist counts (180,000–190,000), while Casual and MMO titles typically lag with medians between 70,000 and 80,000.
Titles with 10,000 or fewer wishlists face a 50% risk of underperforming, necessitating early contingency strategies like extended betas or community events.