Wishlist
Also said as Wishlists, Wishlist count
A saved list of games a player wants on a store. When a game on it launches or goes on sale at 20% or more, Steam emails them.
It is a free way to reach interested people before and after launch, and a rough sign of interest you can watch. Treat it as a signal and not a promise: rules of thumb about how many wishlists turn into sales vary widely, so do not plan your budget on a borrowed ratio. Check what your own similar launches did.
Say it
“Put the store page up a year before launch, and make our only call to action "wishlist". I want the count weekly and I want to know what moved it.”
Where you’ve seen it
Steam's documentation says any discount of 20% or more triggers wishlist emails, with a 1 to 2 week cooldown between them. Checked November 2026.
Not to be confused with pre-order
A pre-order is money up front. A wishlist is a free bookmark, which is why far more people will do it and why not all of them buy.