Gaming marketers can now see Steam Wishlist data alongside media investment and campaign performance data in the Fifty platform. By bringing these separate datasets together, teams can gain a better understanding of how media activity contributes to one of the strongest signals of pre-launch demand.
For PC game launches, Steam Wishlists are far more than an expression of interest. They can help predict first-week sales, contribute to discovery within Steam and create an owned audience that can be notified when a title launches or goes on discount.
But until now, Wishlist data has typically existed separately from the campaigns helping to generate that momentum.
Fifty now ingests Steam Wishlist data directly into campaign reporting, allowing gaming clients to compare daily Wishlist growth against spend, impressions, video views and conversions. When Wishlists increase, marketers can see what activity was live at the time and begin to understand which campaign moments had the greatest impact.
What’s included in the new reporting?
- Wishlists and media performance in one place: Daily Wishlist data is charted alongside spend, impressions, video views and conversions, helping teams identify relationships between campaign activity and Wishlist velocity.
- Cost per Wishlist over time: A single efficiency metric tracks media spend against total Wishlist growth across the campaign window, from the initial announcement beat through to launch.
- Transparent attribution: Because only a small proportion of Steam Wishlists can be directly attributed to a campaign, attributable and unattributed Wishlists are clearly separated rather than assigning credit that the available data cannot support.
Much of the value created by awareness and video activity will never receive direct click or conversion credit, despite potentially influencing someone to search for a game, visit its Steam page or add it to their Wishlist later.
Overlaying media investment with Wishlist growth provides a broader view of campaign impact than last-click reporting alone. It does not claim that every Wishlist was caused by the media, but it makes the relationship between activity and audience response much easier to investigate.
The reporting can also reveal how quickly Wishlist momentum declines after each major campaign beat. This gives marketers another signal to consider when deciding when the next burst of media, creative or launch activity should begin.
The bottom line
Wishlist growth is one of the most valuable indicators available to gaming marketers, but it becomes considerably more useful when viewed in the context of the activity surrounding it. Connecting media reporting with Wishlist velocity gives teams a clearer and more honest view of how demand is building ahead of launch.
Wishlist reporting is already live and available to all Fifty gaming clients. Speak to your Client Success contact to learn more.
Rhys Thomas at [email protected]
